


Into Thin Air

by Alegacyofmonsters



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ascendant (Vampire Diaries), Everyone is a bad person but a fun character, Evil Klaus Mikaelson, F/F, Flaw Exaggeration, Henelope endgame, Hizzie tease, Magic, More plot than ship, Mystery, Prison Worlds (Vampire Diaries), Prophecy, Two Mysteries for the Price of One, Underage Drinking, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:07:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 77
Words: 29,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27209377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alegacyofmonsters/pseuds/Alegacyofmonsters
Summary: After witnessing an old friend vanish, Hope Mikaelson becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to her, even when no one else at the Salvatore School seems to remember her ever existing. With the help of an unlikely ally or two, Hope will uncover the secrets behind the girl's disappearance.
Relationships: Caroline Forbes & Alaric Saltzman, Caroline Forbes & Josie Saltzman, Caroline Forbes & Lizzie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson & Josie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson & Klaus Mikaelson, Hope Mikaelson & Lizzie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson & Penelope Park, Hope Mikaelson/Lizzie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson/Penelope Park, Josie Saltzman & Lizzie Saltzman, Landon Kirby & Hope Mikaelson, Landon Kirby & Josie Saltzman, Landon Kirby & Lizzie Saltzman, Lizzie Saltzman & Sebastian, Minor Landon Kirby/Hope Mikaelson - Relationship, Minor Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman - Relationship, Penelope Park & Lizzie Saltzman
Comments: 44
Kudos: 192





	1. Chapter 1

Hope Mikaelson moved through the Salvatore School with an ease that could only belong to someone who had been sneaking down these halls for over a decade.

Nothing had changed since the first night she'd come to this school, all those many years ago, seven years old and freshly orphaned.

The furniture was in all the same spots as when she'd first started coming down to the common areas late at night because the other children didn't like the sounds she made while she dreamt - more specifically, the screams that accompanied her nightmares.

She snuck past the dining hall, moonlight bouncing off the glossy tabletops. The chairs were all pulled up and put away, the floors clear. There were no children sitting alone while the others pointed and stared, whispering stories about the red-haired girl with no family.

She stopped at the door to the headmaster's office, looking in. That chair across from the desk was the only place that she had felt welcomed back then. It was the only place she was safe from her classmates, the only place she didn't have to listen to rumors about her family or the prophecy that she would destroy the world.

Hope slid the top drawer open, a simple unlocking charm enough to break through its defenses. The keys sat right on top.

 _Practically begging to be stolen_ , Hope thought.

They jingled softly in the quiet office, but Hope tucked them deep into the palm of her hand and they made no sound as she slipped back to the front door.

"Hope Mikaelson."

Hope whirled around at the sound of her name.

Penelope Park stood with her arms crossed, one hip out to the side. "Wherever could you be going at such a late hour?" she asked, voice dripping with mockery.

"Nowhere."

Penelope's silent stare was enough to tell her she wasn't going to get away with such an obvious lie.

"Fine. I'm taking the headmaster's car for a joyride." Hope let the key dangle from her finger and swing in front of the other witch's face.

Penelope's jaw dropped an inch, the beginnings of an incredulous smile tugging at her lips. "Can I come?"

The next lie was already on Hope's lips, ready to fire. "That may or may not have been a really bad lie to cover up the fact that I'm sneaking out to see a boy."

Another look of disbelief crossed Penelope's face, not of shock this time but suspiciousness. "You're gonna go looking for the missing girl."

Hope's eyes darted away at the mention of her. Whatever begrudging familiarity Hope had gained over the last eleven years with the student body had been destroyed after the night Jade went missing. Years of convincing her classmates that she wasn't as insane as the rest of the Mikaelsons had been wasted the second Hope starting talking about a missing student that no one else remembered. Overnight, all the old stories and taunts were reignited as if she were that death-stained seven year-old all over again.

Penelope took Hope's silence as her answer. "Well now I'm definitely coming."

Hope looked Penelope up and down. She had known Penelope liked to break rules - dress code, curfew, magic outside of class, you name it - so it came as no surprise to Hope that she would want to help steal the headmaster's car, but search for Jade? A girl that as far as Penelope knew, Hope had just made up?

She was ready to turn her down when she saw the way Penelope's eyes shined with excitement. She sighed, letting her shoulders fall in defeat. Two sets of eyes were better than one anyways. "Fine. But not a word to Josie."

The last thing Hope needed was Penelope feeding more content to the biggest source of Mikaelson gossip.

A victorious smile flashed across Penelope's face. "Not a word, I swear."


	2. Chapter 2

The short ride down the long driveway was silent, punctuated only by the rattle of Dr. Saltzman's gear in the back as Hope drove carelessly over all the big bumps and splashed through puddles.

"I don't think you're crazy," Penelope says finally as they reach the field at the edge of campus.

"You're the only one." Hope's words were dry and biting. Even Penelope knew where her mind was.

It wasn't like Penelope was oblivious to how the rest of the student body viewed the infamous Hope Mikaelson. She saw all the same stares, heard all the same whispers. Penelope was even sure she had half-heartedly laughed along with some of it.  
Her voice was barely a whisper when she spoke again. "It's because I remember her too."

"What?" Hope's head whipped around, bright hair catching the dim light, eyes narrowed dangerously.

Penelope stares out the window instead of meeting her wild eyes. "Jade. That was her name."

"Why ..." The question dies on Hope's lips before she finds the courage to ask it.

"Why didn't I say anything? Not all of us are social outcasts, Mikaelson."

"Right. You have your precious reputation to protect." Hope drummed her fingers on the steering wheel for a minute, watching the rain drizzle down the windshield. She sucked in a breath and stepped out into the rain, the sound of their doors slamming shut dampened by the thick mist.

"So what are we looking for?" Penelope asked, scrunching her nose at the way her shoes sunk into the mud.

"Anything that proves something happened here."

Hope bit the inside of her cheek as she looked around at the soaked grass and the cloudy puddles. Cautiously, she stepped deeper and deeper into the mist, but by the time she'd reach the other side of the field, she still hadn't found anything worth looking at twice.

Penelope,on the other hand, poked her own way around, doubling across the same spots over and over. She had watched Hope take off in a straight line, on a mission, but Penelope wandered, avoiding puddles and yanking her ruined shoes out of the muck in a clumsy dance across the field to nowhere.

"Are you ready to go?"

Penelope jumped a mile, hand flying to her chest. She had just spotted the tribrid a good distance away, but now here she was, talking loudly right next to her ear.

"Did you find anything?"

"No." Hope shook her head dismissively. "We're not gonna be able to find anything in this rain." Arms crossed, head down, she trudged back to the car.

Penelope followed. "I'm sorry that we didn't find anything." The heat purred in the car. "But I'm really glad that you remember her too." Penelope tried to catch Hope's eye but she was fixated on the road. "I don't know why no one else does." Still no response. "I want answers. Maybe as much as you do." Penelope's fingers were numb from the cold as she twisted them together. "And two brains would be better than one."

That finally got Hope's attention. "You want to work together?" Hope arches an eyebrow. Penelope gives her a small smile, unwilling to ask the question herself. "Fine." Hope pulls the keys from the ignition.

"Cool." Penelope pushes open her door and steps into the rain again. "I'll see you around, Mikaelson."


	3. Chapter 3

Hope closed the door to her room behind her, clicking the lock into place. She knew Landon would be waiting in his room for her - and that he'd have a hundred questions for her when she got back, the same way she was sure Josie had an interrogation waiting for Penelope.

She dropped to her knees, looking under the edge of her bed. At first glance it appeared empty, but a wave of her hand took down the concealment charm on the box. The lid creaked as she opened it and lifted out her darkest spellbook to reveal the photo underneath.

Hope ran a finger along the edge, staring at the two almost-unfamiliar faces smiling back at her. When she snuck into her room the first week after her disappearance, Hope was surprised to find it still framed and arranged carefully among the pictures on Jade's dresser. She had never imagined Jade would hold onto it, much less display it so proudly.

Hope had let go of their friendship mere months after it had faded, abandoning any traces that they'd even know each other, physical or emotional. It had been surprisingly easy to just pretend like she and Jade had never been friends in the first place. After it was clear that the drift was permanent, Hope had held her head high and pretended like she had no clue who Jade was.

It seemed that now the rest of the school was doing the same. Hope had stolen the photo just before Jade's room was emptied, and it was the only thing she had to prove to herself that she wasn't losing her mind. It hadn't been enough evidence to wave through the dining hall and common areas, shouting her vindication, but it was enough for her.

Everything else Jade owned - her clothes, her books, even her blankets and pillows - was all wiped away shortly after and tucked away who-knows-where just in time for Hope to throw open the door victoriously in front of a hall full of people and be gutted by the bare furniture.

Hope sighed and looked to the ceiling, bouncing the photo across her fingertips, deep in thought. If Penelope remembered her, was it possible there were others who remembered her, that kept it a secret for the same reason?

_Not all of us are social outcasts, Mikaelson._

Penelope was smart enough to keep her mouth shut, to not go demanding answers and babbling nonsense. Who else could be doing the same?


	4. Chapter 4

Penelope spotted Josie from down the hall. She stood, elbows on the railing, looking over all the students eating their breakfasts as if she were a queen looking over her kingdom. As soon as she spotted Penelope, she began to walk in the other direction.

"Hey!" Penelope called out pleasantly, quickening her pace. "Are you avoiding me?"

Josie stopped, eyes on the ceiling. "No, I just don't want to be around you." She looked in time to see her girlfriend's face fall.

"Did I make you mad?" Penelope had thought maybe it was an accident that Josie didn't unlock her dorm last night, that maybe it was a coincidence that Josie had managed to step out of the dining hall just as Penelope had entered, but now there was no doubt.

"Do I look like an idiot, Pen?" Josie's words are fast and venomous.

"Of course not."

Josie glared at Penelope as she twisted her pretty face into a sneer. "Alyssa Chang saw you and Hope Mikaelson sneak out after curfew last night."

"Yeah, we lifted the headmaster's car and fucked around with it." Penelope laughed lightly.

"Yeah, you fucked around all right," Josie snapped and turned back to looking over the dining hall.

"Josie ..."

"Just answer me honestly. Are you cheating on me?"

"No." Penelope stepped closer. "You don't even like to break rules, let alone laws. That's the only reason I didn't invite you along."

Josie stuck her chin in the air, a faint, satisfied smile on her face, one that she wouldn't let Penelope see. "It better be."

"You know I love you, Jo."

"As you should." Josie turned on her heels, disappearing down the hallway with a swish of her skirt.


	5. Chapter 5

Hope knocked on the door, pushing it open before she got an answer.

"Sure, come on in." Dr. Saltzman leaned back in his chair, abandoning the paperwork on his desk.

Hope wasted no time on pleasantries or excuses. "I went out to that field last night."

"Hope, I told you -"

"There wasn't a trace!" Hope stared at him, jaw tense and eyes wide. It wasn't the first time they'd had this argument, and they both knew it wasn't going to be the last. "Not a thing!"

Dr. Saltzman pulled himself to his feet, crossing his arms sternly. "That's because there's nothing you need to investigate."

Hope rested her hands on top of his desk, leveling her eyes with his, ready for her next punch, already turning her burning frustration into deadly calmness. "But you know it happened."

No answer.

"Because no one else seems to acknowledge that anything even happened except for you, me, and -" Hope stopped suddenly, choking before she could get out Penelope's name. 

Dr. Saltzman narrowed his eyes. "And who?"

"And no one."

"Hope," His voice is warning, "who went out to that field with you?"

"Nobody. I went alone." 

"Hope."

"It was just me and the rain and my boots destroyed by mud puddles!" Hope said loudly.

"What puddle?" 

Hope furrowed her eyebrows, leaning back. "What do you mean 'what puddle'? Rain puddles."

Dr. Saltzman crossed his office, opening the door. "Just stay away from that field." He gestures for Hope to leave. "And stay away from puddles."

Hope scowled at him on her way out. The scowl was still on her face when she rounded the corner by the bathrooms just as Penelope was coming out.

"Hey."

"It's not a good time." Hope tried to brush past her, but Penelope stopped her with her voice.

"I have something for you."

Hope sighed dramatically, turning back to look at her. "I'm really not in the mood, Penelope."

"It's about Jade."

Hope snapped her mouth shut, eyes locked onto Penelope with a sudden interest. She could barely breathe as she watched Penelope reach into her pocket and pull out a pen.

"I did a thing last Christmas," Penelope started slowly.

"What kind of thing?"

"A bad thing." Penelope's voice wavered. "I gave everyone one of these pens."

"Yeah." Hope smiled warmly as she took the pen and looked at it.

She remembered the pens very well. While the other students filled each other's stockings with presents every holiday season, Hope had never been a part of it. Her stocking had always hung empty over the grand fireplace every snowy morning, surrounded by her classmates' overflowing ones. The pen was the only Christmas present she had ever gotten at the Salvatore School, and it sent a warm flutter through her chest whenever she thought about it - even if Penelope had given everyone one. Hope had never brought herself to use it, afraid to somehow ruin it. "I remember you giving those out."

"It records everything you write with it."  
Hope handed the pen back quickly, as if it could hurt her just by holding it in her hand.

"And now I'm glad I never used it."

"This book -" Penelope reaches into her bag. "- contains everything anyone's ever written with one of my pens."

"So what does this have to do with Jade?"

"Well she got a pen too." A proud smirk lights up Penelope's face. "And she used it."

Penelope handed over her sacred book, already opened to the marked page, and Hope took it greedily.

Jade's handwriting hadn't changed that much, Hope realized as she recognized the loopy letters and i's dotted with familiar open circles. 

"It's mostly normal - you know, homework, journaling, lists, same as everyone else - but there's one entry that stands out." Penelope reaches over to turn to the next marked passage. "I almost didn't recognize it as hers. Look at how messy her handwriting is."

Hope frowned down at the way the words seemed to deteriorate before her eyes. The circles above her i's had turned into hasty lines and the elegant loops into sharp ovals. 

"She talks about a puddle." Penelope's eyebrows drew together. "A black puddle of goo in the field where she disappeared."

"A puddle?" Hope's eyes snapped up, wide for just a moment before she looked back down at the book as if she'd never been startled in the first place. "I guess that explains Dr. Saltzman's cryptic warning about staying away from puddles."

"Dr. Saltzman knows?"

"He denies it, but he knows something."

"You think he has something to do with it?" Penelope's heart pounded in her chest.

"No." Hope shook her head quickly. "I think he's just hiding what he does know."


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey." Landon caught his girlfriend's arm in the hall. Hope turned, giving him a small smile.

"Hey."

"You've been kind of M.I.A. lately." Landon shoved his hands deep in his pockets. If Hope didn't know better, she'd say he was nervous.

"I told you, I've been busy." 

Landon took a deep breath and Hope furrowed her eyebrows at him. Maybe he  _ was _ nervous.

"Yeah, but there have been rumors," he said quietly.

Hope's face twisted into a frown, her tongue growing sharp in her mouth. "There are always rumors." 

Landon sighed, his shoulders falling in defeat. "You know that's not what I meant."

Hope raised an eyebrow impatiently, urging him on.

"There are Penelope rumors."

"What do you mean?" She scrunched her nose up. "People don't start rumors about Penelope. They're too afraid she would hex them."

"I just mean, I know you've been sneaking around with her - everyone does. And if she's involved in what you're busy with, I'm just wondering why I'm not." He held out his hands emptily.

"Because it's nothing important." Hope smiled, trying to make it sincere. "We're just doing stupid things like stealing the headmaster's car."

"Okay." Landon looked at her strangely for a moment before he broke out in a wide grin, pulling Hope into his chest. "That's good. You could use a little fun after … everything."

Hope's smile faded after her face was safely hidden in his arms. She knew what Landon meant by  _ everything _ , knew that he was referring to the week-long mental breakdown she had had after Jade disappeared.

"Come on." He kept an arm around her shoulder as they started walking again. "I'll walk you to class."


	7. Chapter 7

There was a small knock at Hope's door that night, long after Landon had fallen deep enough asleep for Hope to push him to the other side of her bed. She slowly pulled back the blankets, tucked them around Landon, and tip-toed to look through the peephole. 

She looked between her bed and the doorknob, weighing her choices, and then she slipped out into the hallway silently.

"What are you doing here?" Hope crossed her arms over her chest, covering her pajama shirt as she stared at Penelope.

"I thought you'd want to go look for that puddle," Penelope said. "It's not raining anymore. The field should be all dried up."

"I was sleeping!" Hope protested, starting to shiver in the cold hallway.

"Well now you're not. Are you going in your pajamas or do you want to get changed?"

Hope rolled her eyes, thinking about turning her down. But as cold and as tired as she was, she wanted answers more and she knew Penelope was right. She sighed heavily. "Give me five minutes."

"Take your time." 

Penelope sat cross-legged on the floor outside Hope's door, her secret book open across her lap. It was silent now, no students scribbling away this late at night. She picked up where she had left off, nosily reading every thought a Salvatore School student thought important enough to write down that day. 

It had been a long time since Penelope felt any sort of guilt over the invasion of privacy. She'd rationalized it so well. She didn't let anyone else see the passages and she would never use it for her own selfish purposes. And if a school full of witches didn't think to check for any suspicious spells on their gifts, that was on them. Penelope really couldn't be blamed for their ignorance.

Besides, if she wasn't spying on all of them, how could she help them the way they so clearly needed her to? If she hadn't been able to read Wade's journal, how would she have known he needed a pick-me-up in the form of a new pair of socks, spelled to always keep him warm? How would she have known that Alyssa Chang needed hexing after making fun of Hannah's new frog rainboots she wore to every class for a week? It was for their own good, really.

Hope closed her dorm door behind her, tucking her keys into the pocket of her jacket. "Let's go before Landon wakes up."


	8. Chapter 8

"I brought us a surprise." Penelope opened her jacket to reveal a tall bottle.

"Seriously?" Hope glared at her. "You brought booze to our top-secret, super-serious investigation?"

"Yep." Penelope twisted the top off, took a long swig, and then offered it to Hope. "Want some?"

"No." Hope balled her hands into fists at her side. "What I wanted is to not have to babysit you. I came for a mysterious puddle of goo, not a lame hangout."

Penelope looked down at the bottle in her hands. "You and your fucking martyr complex, Mikaelson."

Hope rolled her eyes at that and stomped off to look around by herself.

"Suit yourself," Penelope muttered. She tilted her head back, downing as much as she could in the time she could hold her breath. "You know -" Penelope called out, throat burning. "- you probably need this more than I do."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hope snapped, kicking over some tall reeds with her boots. 

"Why do you actually want to find Jade?" The witch drummed her fingers on the side of her bottle as she waited for an answer she knew she wasn't gonna get. "Is it because you miss her? Or because you want to be some great detective?"

"Because she's a student and she's missing and no one else is doing anything about it."

Penelope took another drink. "That didn't answer my question."

She waited for Hope to yell at her, to demand that she either help or leave or to tell her to stop asking questions, but instead, Hope tilted her head to the side, eyes shining a bit.

"I just want answers."

"Yeah, that's what I thought." 

Penelope stayed silent after that. She followed Hope for a bit until her legs got too tired, and then she sat down in the center of the field to keep drinking as she waited.

"Penelope!"

By the time she reached Hope, the tribrid was already crouched down in front of the steaming pool of darkness. Penelope furrowed her eyebrows, reaching out to hold a hand above the steam.

"Don't touch it!" Hope grabbed her arm sharply, digging her fingernails in enough to leave marks. The two girls stared at each other for a beat, Hope's face terrified and Penelope's confused.

"I wasn't going to." Penelope slowly took her arm back from Hope's grasp, not moving her eyes. "I just wanted to see if it was hot." Her hand hovered flat above the mud for a long minute. "It's not."

"Did you want it to be?"

"It's steaming, isn't it?"

"Hmm." Hope leaned back on her heels as she thought.

"Should we throw a rock in or something?"

"Sure."

Penelope dragged her hands through the dirt around them until she found a good-sized stone. She tossed it in gently, careful to avoid the splash. 

Hope's breath burned in her lungs as she held it and she felt no relief when she let it out after a few moments of uneventfulness. "Nothing happened."

"That was underwhelming." Penelope punctuates her disappointment with another drink. "Should we throw a rock in or something?"

"What?" Hope whipped her head around, skin prickling. "How drunk are you?"

"Not enough apparently." Penelope felt around for another rock. 

Hope watched, jaw hanging open, as Penelope went through all the same motions as before. 

"That was underwhelming."

Hope just continued to stare.

"Should we throw a rock in or something?"

"I think we should leave," Hope said quickly, pulling Penelope roughly to her feet and away from the puddle. "Right now. Come on."

Hope was so concerned with getting Penelope out of the field and into the car that she didn't notice the slug on the back of her boot or the slimy trail it left up her sweatpants as she drove them back up the driveway and dropped Penelope at her dorm.


	9. Chapter 9

Hope sat across from Emma, bouncing her leg impatiently. Until Jade's disappearance, therapy sessions had been something she looked forward to, but afterwards, Hope just couldn't wait for them to be over with.

"Dr. Saltzman told me that you've been looking for a mystery to solve," Emma said serenely. It seemed for every ounce of impatience Hope was pouring into their session, Emma was putting in twice as much patience.

"I'm not looking for a mystery to solve," Hope snapped, arms crossed. "I have a mystery that needs to  _ be _ solved."

Emma nodded as if she understood. Hope knew she didn't.

"And you feel that you're the only one who can solve it?"

"I'm the only one who wants to!" Hope lunged forward, a sudden fury on her face. "Everyone else acts like I'm losing my mind whenever I bring it up - including you! I've seen the way they look at me, the way they talk about me behind my back! It's the same way they talk about Lizzie Saltzman. They think I'm crazy too." 

"You're not crazy, Hope." 

"You believe me then?" she demanded, clasping her hands together loudly and raising her eyebrows as far as they would go. "That there's a student missing?"

"Hope …"

"Of course." Hope shot out of her chair, not caring that their session wasn't even half over. What was Emma going to do anyway?

"Hope! You should be careful digging where you don't need to."

Hope stopped in the doorway of Emma's office, her back still turned to her, and the whole world seemed to stand still. She could feel the magic buzzing through her, knew what she was capable of if she let it loose. The thought of destruction was tantalizingly close, that violent Mikaelson wrath always just below the surface.

Instead, she barked out a joyless laugh and slammed the door behind her hard enough to shake the walls and stop every student in the hall.


	10. Chapter 10

Hope went straight to Dr. Saltzman's office, knocking only to see if he was in there before she spelled the door open and shut it quickly behind her. She cast a small revealing spell and rifled through his stuff while she waited for it to take effect, starting with the papers on the top of his desk and ending in the student files. 

She was sitting on the floor behind his desk, sorting through the folders, when the door to his office flew open.

Hope sprang to her feet, expecting to see the headmaster himself but instead, Lizzie Saltzman stood in the doorway, scowling at her darkly from under her heavy eyebrows.

"Where's my dad?" she demanded.

"Uh, not here," Hope said stiffly, wishing Lizzie would take the hint and leave.

Lizzie threw her jacket onto the back of the chair instead. If she picked up on the hint, she ignored it. "Then why are you in his office?"

Hope clasped her hands behind her back, nudging the drawer closed with her boot. "No reason."

"Spill it, Mikaelson. Josie's been bitching about you all week, my dad's been busier than ever, and now you're breaking into his office, so something is  _ obviously _ up." Lizzie threw things around her dad's desk like she was looking for something herself, messing up all the neat piles of paper.

Hope furrowed her eyebrows and exposed her teeth, a low anger boiling in her stomach. "What did I do to Josie?" 

"I don't know, so stop changing the subject. What are you looking for?" Lizzie leaned against the desk to cross her arms and stare down Hope.

"I am looking for anything suspicious, okay?" Hope dropped back to her knees, reopening the student files drawer. There was no point in hiding what she was doing anymore.

"More suspicious than breaking and entering?"

"Yes! Now let me focus!" Hope had finally found Jade's folder, out of alphabetical order and shoved deep in the back of the drawer underneath everyone else's. She opened it excitedly, only to find the folder completely empty. She snapped it shut again.

"Then tell me exactly what I'm helping you look for!" Lizzie snapped back.

Hope stood. "You're going to help me?"

"You're not the only one who thinks my dad has been acting weird lately." Lizzie rolled her eyes and pulled books off the bookshelf one by one, tossing them onto the mess she'd made on the desk.

"Acting weird how?"

"Sneaking off late at night, not telling me and Josie where he's been or what he's doing, lying about headmaster-ly meetings - wait, why do  _ you _ think my dad's been acting suspicious?"

"Same stuff." Hope stumbles over her lie. "I just know he's lying about something."

Lizzie stared at her, mind working hard. "Yeah but why would it matter to you?"

"Because one of the lies is about a secret I want to know."

"What secret?"

Hope's eyes wandered around, physically searching for a lie, when she spotted the red box on the shelf where a line of books once sat. "Do you know what's inside that box?"

"Don't avoid my question."

"It's locked." Hope studied the sides, looking for a way on.

"Why does a locked box matter?" Lizzie threw her hands out. "It probably just has my mom's wedding ring in it."

Hope sets the box on his desk. "Because I've never seen it before I cast a revealing spell when I first got here."

"My point still stands." Lizzie started to stack paperwork neatly around the heap of books.

"Oh yeah? Shake it."

Hope handed the box off. A loud clanking comes from inside the box, something heavy and metal with lots of parts. 

"That's not a ring …" Lizzie lowered the box slowly. 

" _ Dad _ !"

Hope and Lizzie whirled around at the same time as Josie stormed into the office. When she spotted them, her face fell into a deadly scowl and she crossed her arms.

"What are you doing here?" She spoke to Lizzie and only Lizzie. "And why are you here with  _ her _ ?"

"I think that's my cue to leave." Hope was already edging towards the door.

"That's a  _ great _ idea!" Josie quipped. She waited until the door was closed to speak again. "Seriously, Lizzie? Going through dad's stuff with  _ Hope Mikaelson _ ?" Josie snatched the papers out of her sister's hand, stacking them into a neat pile aggressively. 

"It's not like that," Lizzie said, knowing exactly what Josie was afraid of. 

"Oh really?" Josie tilted her head. "'It's not like that'? Are you insane?"

Lizzie's jaw tightened and her words came careful and practiced. "I don't like that word."

" _ I don't care _ !"

"Why are you being like this?" 

"Because it's Hope Mikaelson and you know exactly how I feel about her! You're just too selfish to care about anyone but yourself!" Josie's hand flew to her ear at the end of her sentence. She could barely hear Lizzie whisper her name over the sound of something wriggling in her ear, but before either of them could question it, the office door burst open again for the fourth time that morning.

" _ What _ is going on?" Dr. Saltzman asked. "I could hear you arguing from down the hall."

"It's nothing." Josie glared pointedly at Lizzie as she stomped out of the office.


	11. Chapter 11

"You looking for me?"

Hope jumped at the sound of Penelope's voice coming from the shadows behind her.

"Not exactly."

"Yeah, 'cause you've been avoiding me, right?"

Hope looked down. It wasn't that she was avoiding Penelope per se. It was just that she hadn't been able to stop thinking about how the puddle affected Penelope so completely.

"I'm not avoiding you. I just don't think your girlfriend is thrilled about us hanging out." 

"What'd she do?" Penelope asked, bringing a hand up to her brown locks. "Threaten to burn your hair off?" She took a step closer, voice getting lower. "Because I think the mythical tribrid could take her on."

Hope let out a dry laugh. "Maybe I was more worried about hurting her."

"That doesn't sound like the Mikaelson I know. She wouldn't waste an opportunity to kick Josie's ass."

"Good point."

"So tell me the real reason you've been avoiding me." 

Hope's eyes wandered to where Landon stood, waiting for her by the Miss Mystic Falls check-in. "Would love to but metaphorical hell awaits." She took a deep breath and met his gaze, stepping away from Penelope.


	12. Chapter 12

Hope's feet crunched over the dry leaves on the forest floor. She weaved between trees, the trail far behind her. It was much more fun to run without a path, she thought, and it's not like a tribrid had to worry about twisted ankles.

She burst out by the water, stopping when she saw the blonde sitting on the other side of the lake.

"And so now I think Josie's upset that Penelope is hanging out with Hope but she won't say it," Lizzie chatted away, just outside of Hope's supernatural earshot. "Which I don't know why since she and Landon have been together as long as I can remember and Penelope is head over heels in love with Josie anyways - like disgustingly in love - and she wouldn't ever cheat on her -" Lizzie stopped to suck in a deep breath, suddenly suffocated by the sheer number of words spilling out of her mouth. 

"I am sure that your sister will figure it out," Sebastian said, leaning forward. "And in the meantime …" 

He reached for Lizzie's hand but she jerked it back abruptly. Across the lake, Hope furrowed her eyebrows at the way Lizzie jerked back, seemingly away from nothing.

_ Maybe there was a bug. Except … is she talking to herself? _ Hope squinted harder, trying to see clearer. 

And then she saw MG trip from behind a tree and Lizzie spring to her feet, no doubt spewing threats and insults left and right.

"Are you spying on us, MG?" Lizzie demanded in a shout, voice echoing off the trees.

"Us who?" MG looked bewildered.

"Me and Sebastian!" 

"There's no one with you. Lizzie, just listen to me." MG approached slowly as Lizzie stared at the empty blanket. "You were talking to yourself."

Lizzie turned away, tears in her eyes. "Shut up." 

"Look." MG thrust a camera in her direction. "I recorded it."

Lizzie flung the camera away from her face. "I don't care!"

"Just watch!"

Lizzie reluctantly looked down, stomach turning when she saw her likeness, sitting by herself and chatting away merrily. "What is this?"

"It's you, just now."

"No it isn't!" Lizzie's voice was shrill and only getting louder and shriller. "I was talking to Sebastian! He was here! Is this some sort of prank?"

"No, of course not -" MG's eyebrows pulled together.

"Why would you do this to me? I know the witches like to prank me because it's  _ so funny  _ to watch Crazy Lizzie melt down, but I thought we were friends, MG!"

"We are friends! That's why I -"

"Not anymore!" Lizzie sobbed. "Don't talk to me  _ ever _ again." 

She turned, running towards the treeline. MG leaned back, eyes wandering around the lake. They stopped on Hope who swallowed heavily, put her earbuds back in, and resumed her jog, trying to pretend like she didn't see anything.


	13. Chapter 13

"As you all know, this year is the Salvatore School's turn to host the annual Miss Mystic Falls pageant." Dr. Saltzman stood in front of his students, hands clasped on top of the podium. "Let's take this opportunity to keep up appearances of a normal school."

Hope eyed Lizzie, standing tall and proud next to her father, as if she hadn't just fought with what was quite possibly her only friend a mere hour ago.

"That means no using magic no matter how small or discreet, no spellbooks left out, nothing that raises any questions." Dr. Saltzman took a deep breath. "That also means keeping the humans out of high-magic or otherwise suspicious areas. These areas include but are not limited to the library, the artifact room, the werewolf transition spaces, and the back section of the infirmary. It especially means the field by the edge of campus. No one is to go out there this week, not even Salvatore students. It will take effort, but I know that together, we can make it through. Any questions?"

Hope shot to her feet before he even finished asking. "I have one. Why the field?"

"Too much evidence of transitions to cover up," Dr. Saltzman replied coolly. 

Hope's shoulders dropped. She caught Penelope's eye just in time to see the witch give her an overly dramatic wink.

Lizzie stepped up as Hope took her seat. "Now there's plenty to be done in preparation for the actual event …"


	14. Chapter 14

Hope's steps towards the woods were quick and determined. It was like Lizzie knew she didn't want to be around anyone else and purposefully gave her the one chore where she didn't need to play nice. It wasn't as though Hope would struggle to hide all evidence of magic in the Old Mill anyways. It was mostly evidence of teenage rebellion that littered the floor - empty beer bottles, condom wrappers, and cigarette butts. She wondered if Dr. Saltzman would be upset if she hid it all behind a big concealment spell.

"Hey!" Landon hurried to catch up to her.

Hope turned slowly. "Hey."

"Lizzie said we still have to sign in." Landon motioned over his shoulder towards the table. Dr. Saltzman stood there, smiling and chatting with the other parents, and Lizzie and Josie stood off to the side, beaming as they directed contestants around the school. 

Hope nodded, eyeing the Saltzmans warily but making no move to approach.

"Lizzie also said I could help you out at the Old Mill."

"Did she?"

"I figured we could use the time, since I hardly ever see you anymore."

"I've told you, I've been busy." Hope's cheeks started to ache from holding the stiff, fake smile on her face.

"I know, I know. I'm just glad it's actual fun and not that imaginary girl again."

The smile slipped from Hope's face before she could stop it.

"It's not … is it?" Landon's own face fell, a cold fear piercing his gut.

"Are you seriously picking fights today of all days?" Hope demanded.

"I'm not picking fights."

Hope tilted her head at him.

"I'm not!" Landon stopped and sighed. "Can we just sign up for your contest-thing and get it over with?"

" _ Gladly _ ." Hope began marching towards the table only to stop when she saw Dr. Saltzman meet her eye. "But let's just wait a minute."

"Why?"

Hope shook her head. "I just think he's hiding something."

"Yeah. Copious amounts of magic inside his secret magic school." Landon smiled.

"No beyond that."

Landon sighed again, louder this time. "Are you ever going to tell me what's going on?"

"Eventually," Hope lied through her teeth.


	15. Chapter 15

"Hi!" Josie's smile was wide and fake as she looked at the brunette in front of her. "Welcome to the Salvatore School!"

"Sign-ins are right over there, and everything's set up just inside!" Lizzie added brightly, her smile genuine and her cheeks pink from the cold.

"So," Josie said when the girl left, "Hope's in the competition."

"She has been for the last two years." Lizzie's smile never faded as she nodded at a contestant in the distance. "Her mom was Miss Mystic Falls, so she wants to win this year. It's her last year."

"Well it's my first year and I - Hi! - want to win." Josie stared resolutely at her twin. "And I'm going to make sure it's not Hope or anyone else who beats me."

"Don't do anything stupid. Dad said no magic. Besides, - Hello! - Hope deserves to win this year. You have two more."

Josie rolled her eyes. "I  _ deserve _ to win too."

"I know. Just … do it the right way."

"There's no right way." Josie threw her small shoulders back, eyeing Hope and Landon across the driveway. "This is war."


	16. Chapter 16

Penelope stepped around the flow of people coming into the school, trying to fight the current of proud parents and wide-eyed contestants. She finally made it outside just in time for Josie to breeze past her.

"Hey, wait!" Penelope grasped at her sleeve. "I was just coming to sign in with you."

"Oh, I'll be right back," Josie assured her cheerfully. "Just wait for me outside."

Josie hurried up the stairs, past her floor and up to Hope's. She'd watched her casually, bided her time until Hope signed in and took off to the Old Mill for her chore assignment. Josie knew she wouldn't be back for a while. 

She muttered an unlocking charm after checking to make sure the halls were clear - of humans and of loose-lipped supernaturals. 

A frustrated grunt echoed off the walls when the doorknob stayed in place despite her charm. Josie's face twisted up as she thought. It was to be expected that Hope would put an anti-unlocking charm spell on her doorknob, Josie thought. But she was a siphoner and with the protection spell gone, her charm worked perfectly.

Josie closed the door behind her, grabbed Hope's dress from where it hung proudly by her mirror, and tossed it in the middle of the floor.

" _ Incendia _ ."

The silky fabric went up in flames. Josie scrunched her nose at the awful smell, and as soon as the dress was singed beyond repair, Josie put out the fire and hung it back up, a smile spreading across her face. There was no way Hope could beat her now without her dress.

Josie was hurrying down the stairs, having already thrown a messy protection spell to replace the one she'd siphoned, by the time the smoke smell reached the hallway.

"Where were you?" Penelope asked as Josie appeared next to her, buzzing with energy.

"Bathroom."

"Doing what? You smell like a bonfire."

Josie scoffed at her girlfriend. "Do you want to sign up or not?"


	17. Chapter 17

Later that day, as Hope was running through the motions of rehearsal, the image of her burned dress fresh in her mind, the smell of the fabric still caught in her nose, she caught Josie staring at her. The siphoner was pretending to stretch, but Hope noticed how she was still on the same arm ten minutes later. Landon followed her gaze.

"You seem distracted," he said. Hope couldn't bring herself to unstick her tongue from the roof of her mouth to answer, the anger inside her too strong to put into words. She just kept seeing burned purple hanging cruelly. "Hope?"

"Josie Saltzman is staring at me," she said,, eyes still on the brunette Saltzman. She was too furious to notice the blonde Saltzman watching her from the other side of the room.

Landon crinkled his nose. "Not to sound like an ass, but why would she be staring at you?"

"Someone lit my dress on fire earlier today."

"And you think it was Josie?"

Hope glared at her boyfriend. "Who else would it be?"

"Any of these girls."

Hope's jaw dropped. How was he defending Josie?

"And which one of them could've siphoned the spell off my door?" She stepped back sharply, yanking herself out of Landon's arms. 

Lizzie took this as her cue to stop watching and rush over to set a hand on Hope's shoulder. "I have a solution. Come with me."

Josie watched over Penelope's shoulder as her sister led Hope Mikaelson off the floor.

"Who are you staring at?" Penelope asked, hands raised expertly as they spun around. Nobody would've believed that it was her first time dancing in the pageant, but even less people would've believed that rebellious Penelope Park had been practicing for this day ever since she started dating Josie Saltzman all those years ago.

Josie flung her ponytail dramatically as she looked back at her girlfriend. "I'm just eyeing the competition."

"You mean Hope."

"Hope's  _ not _ my competition," Josie said sharply. "She hasn't won yet and she's  _ not _ going to win now."

Penelope stared at Josie in shock, almost afraid of asking her question. When she finally did, her voice was soft. "How are you so sure?"

"Because!"

"Because  _ what _ ?"

"Because I'm going to do everything I can to make sure of it!"

"You're going to 'make sure' Hope loses?" Penelope raised her eyebrows.

"I'm going to make sure  _ I _ win."


	18. Chapter 18

Hope stepped tentatively into the dorm room after Lizzie. Her eyes swept over the Saltzman twins’ room. 

Lizzie’s side was decorated in a way Hope couldn’t have even begun to imagine. It was home to numerous potted plants, hundreds of inspirational quotes scrawled across colored paper, and quite the collection of herbs and potions scattered across her dresser. 

Josie’s side, on the other hand, was exactly as Hope had pictured it. Discarded uniforms littered the floor and an overflowing closet only added to the mess, but everything aside from the clothes was pristine and carefully arranged, from the photos of Josie and her friends to the makeup on her vanity.

Hope didn’t get to look for long. Lizzie dropped a large gift box onto her bed and stared at Hope expectantly.

“Since Josie ruined your dress,” Lizzie said loudly, “I see only one solution: you can wear our mother’s dress.”

Hope smiled tentatively. “You know I have plenty of dresses, right?” 

“It’s not about the dress.” Lizzie drew her shoulders up. “It’s about Josie.”

Hope crossed her arms and glanced back at Josie’s side of the room. 

“At least look at the dress.” 

“Fine.” Hope kept her arms crossed as Lizzie opened the box and pulled the protective paper. She didn’t uncross her arms until she saw the familiar blue fabric. The smallest of smiles spread across her lips, still stifled by surprise.

“You recognize it, right?” Lizzie asked.

“Yeah.” Hope let the smile blossom fully. Lizzie thought it was a beautiful thing. Hope didn't smile like this often. “It was my dad’s.”

“I think it’s fitting that you win in this dress.” Lizzie started to pull it out of the box, carefully gathering all the folds. Hope couldn’t watch the dress. She could only stare at Lizzie.

“Thank you,” she managed finally, after Lizzie had spread the dress out across her flowery comforter. She hadn’t expected such a soft and touching kindness out of Lizzie - Lizzie who was known for her witty insults and biting name-calling, who was known for thinking of no one but herself, who was known for not being able to hold a friendship for the life of her.

“You deserve it.”


	19. Chapter 19

Hope was still smiling when she reached the dining hall and Penelope popped into her line of view. 

“Have you noticed anything strange today?”

“You mean other than your girlfriend destroying my dress?” An anger bubbled through Hope’s happy exterior.

“What?”

“Yeah.”

“We’re going to circle back to that,” Penelope promised. “But I meant anything strange with the contestants.”

Hope thought for a moment, peeking to the other side of the room where the contestants were eating. “What’s weird about them?”

“They’re acting insane. I’m talking throwing-water-in-each-other’s-faces insane. They’re sabotaging each other and stealing shoes and the jealousy is suffocating.”

Hope eyed the menu on the wall. “It’s a pageant. I think that’s pretty standard.” 

“I’ve seen this pageant before, okay?” Penelope said. “It’s never been like this. It’s like they’re all possessed.”

“You think someone’s using magic?” 

“It’s possible.” Penelope shrugged and then her face fell. “And I think I know who would’ve done it.”

“Josie.”


	20. Chapter 20

That night, Hope desperately tried to fall asleep. Landon was sound asleep next to her, but Hope tossed and turned. It seemed like every time she almost dozed off, something tickled her face or her ear or her throat. Finally, as she rubbed her nose for what felt like the hundredth time, she sat up and slipped out of bed and into the hallway. 

She walked all the way out to the backwoods, far away from the school, and let out all the rage and the grief she had let build up with the competition and Josie Saltzman and disappearing girls. By the time she was done, her scream had become a howl and she stood on all fours. 

Just when she was starting to feel her mind clear, she spotted the wiggling slug in the dirt. Horrified, she turned back immediately, grabbing her discarded boot and squishing the thing. 

She threw her clothes back on and scooped the slug into her hands, rushing back to the school.


	21. Chapter 21

Penelope bit her thumbnail as she walked down the hallway towards Josie’s room. She wasn’t sure if she planned to confront her about Hope's dress or clarify their plans for tomorrow, but she knew she had to see her girlfriend. She wasn’t prepared for her to come out of the bathroom mere feet in front of her.

“Hey!” Penelope smiled. “What time do you want to arrive tomorrow?”

_ Apparently I’m asking about plans, _ Penelope thought dryly, immediately regretting her choice.

“Arrive to what?” Josie had a dark look on her face.

“To Miss Mystic Falls.”

“Why do  _ you _ need to know that?” 

“So I know what time to pick you up?”

“Why are  _ you _ picking me up?” Josie took a step closer to her girlfriend, her voice getting louder. “You’re not my date. MG’s taking me.”

Penelope’s mouth fell open.

“As a matter of fact, you’re not my  _ girlfriend _ ." 

“What are you saying?” 

“I’m breaking up with you."

Penelope stood still for a minute. She knew all the protests, the insults, the arguments she could make, but she didn’t say a single one. Instead, she said softly, “Thank you.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Josie’s face was twisted with fury now.

Penelope stepped closer, pulling her shoulders back and raising her head. “I wasn’t ever gonna do it myself, so thank you. You are  _ so _ toxic, Josie. I’ll be better off not around you.” She scrunched her nose up. “But I guess there’s another plus side.”

Josie stared at her evenly, silently daring her to say it.

“At least now I can tell you that I slept with Hope Mikaelson.”

The change on Josie’s face was almost imperceptible. She hid her anger well, only betraying it in one miniscule twitch in her jaw. “Fuck you.”

“No, fuck  _ you _ .” Penelope turned sharply, not waiting for her ex-girlfriend’s reaction as she marched back down the hallway without looking back.


	22. Chapter 22

“Dorian!” Hope burst into the library.

The librarian jumped in surprise, dropping the book in his hands. “Miss Mikaelson, it is well after curfew. The library is not even open -”

“How good are you with magical diseases?” Hope demanded instead of listening to his lecture.

Dorian picked up the book and set it on the table. “I’d say I’m pretty well-versed in all things supernatural.” 

Hope looked at him skeptically.

“Try me.”

“This came out of my ear when I turned.” Hope let the slug fall from her cupped hands to the tabletop. “Have you ever seen anything like it?” 

Dorian turned away, grabbed a jar from the shelf behind him, and held it up. “Like this?” The slug inside his jar was identical to - albeit, more intact than - Hope’s. “This came out of one of the Miss Mystic girls’ ears.”

“What is it?” Hope took the jar and studied it more closely. 

“As far as I can tell, it’s a parasite that enters the host’s brain almost unnoticeably.” Dorian grabbed the books he’d been perusing, and Hope realized they were all about supernatural parasites. “It would be completely undetectable if it didn’t make its host act so impulsively out of character.”

“Penelope said the girls were acting particularly nasty.” Hope set the jar down, tired of staring at the disgusting thing even from behind the safety of glass. “You think this is why?”

Dorian swallowed heavily. “I would guess that right now, the entirety of Miss Mystic Falls is infected by those little guys.”

“What do we do?” 

“I’ll take care of it. Humans are my forte.”

“Thank you.” Hope turned and left the library.

Her heels echoed off the silent stairway as she hurried back up to her room. She wasn’t expecting to crash into one Penelope Park, also hurrying down the stairs.

“Penelope!” Hope said excitedly, ready to spill about the slugs. She stopped when she saw Penelope’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Penelope shook her head. “What’s wrong with you?” 

“Do you -” Hope pointed towards the bottom of the stairs. “Do you want to grab a snack and I’ll fill you in?”


	23. Chapter 23

“So it’s a magical slug?” Penelope hopped up on the island across from Hope, who sat on the counter swinging her legs. “That crawls inside your brain? And makes you act all crazy?”

“Impulsive, but yeah.” Hope looked down at her hands. “What I don’t get is why I wasn’t infected.”

“Because you’re a tribrid?”

“Maybe.”

“So  _ I’m _ infected?” Penelope raised an eyebrow and leaned forward. 

“Almost definitely.” 

Penelope nodded and pulled a face.

“But Dorian’s working on a cure.”

“Well -” Penelope brushed her hair over her shoulders, “- in the meantime …”

“What are you doing?” Hope shook her head, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Penelope tilted her chin down to look up at Hope with a wicked smile. “Hopefully you.” 

“Smooth, Pen. Real smooth.” Hope rolled her eyes and laughed. “I don’t think Josie would approve of this.”

“Actually, we broke up.” Penelope leaned back. “So I am free to do whatever I want.”

“I’m sorry.”

Instead of answering, Penelope pulled the wide collar of her shirt down and off her shoulder. Hope let her eyes flicker across her bare skin before she looked to the side with another bashful smile.

“Penelope …”

“Are you just going to leave me like this, Mikaelson?” Penelope tugged the other sleeve down. 

“I’m flattered but …” Hope still couldn’t meet Penelope’s eye. “I think - I’m pretty sure - I’m into someone else.”

Penelope’s jaw dropped, her voice losing its seductive softness. “ _ Landon Kirby _ ?”

Hope’s eyes started to shine and her nose grew pinker. “No, um …” She cleared her throat. “Lizzie Saltzman.”

“Well …” Penelope slid off the counter. “Just because you  _ think _ you’re into Lizzie Saltzman,” Penelope stepped up to Hope, “doesn’t mean we can’t do anything.”

“A very good point.” Hope leaned forward and pressed her lips to Penelope’s. 

All thoughts of possible crushes on blonde siphoners left her mind as Penelope kissed her back even harder and twisted her hands into her hair. 


	24. Chapter 24

The next morning, Hope tip-toed out of Penelope’s room and down to the library. She knew she would find Dorian still there, hunched over his books, eyes moving fast across the page. 

He looked up when she walked in. “Hey, I know why you weren’t affected by the slug.”

“Good morning to you, too.” Hope sits across from him. “Tell me why.”

“It’s not because you’re a tribrid.” Dorian slides a book across the table, pointing to a drawing that looked an awful lot like the slugs they’d inspected. “It’s because you’re supernatural.”

Hope’s eyes skimmed over the handwritten passage underneath the picture, shoulders slumping. “It only affects humans.”

“Correct.” 

Hope slid the book away from her, leaned back in her chair, and began to bite her cheek nervously.

“You should be relieved,” Dorian said. 

“How am I gonna be relieved when it’s the one weekend this school is full of humans?” 

“Because we’re not dealing with a bunch of young and infected witches, vampires, and werewolves - just a handful of humans who think the competition is getting to their heads.”

“Humans who aren’t supposed to know about the supernatural.”

“And vampires to compel them.” Dorian crossed his arms. “We have this under control, Hope. They’re a small group, they’re in our territory, and we have the research.”

“What about any witches who thought they were infected and acted … accordingly?”

“Just a trick of the mind.” Dorian waved his hand dismissively. “Whatever the supernatural version of the Placebo Effect is.”

“Right.” Hope nodded. “I guess I’ll keep an eye on the girls and you keep an eye out for the cure.”


	25. Chapter 25

Hope sat on the steps in the dining hall, pretending to laugh at the desperate jokes the Miss Mystic Falls contestants were telling. She said nothing about the way that most of the jokes seemed to be subtle digs at the other girls, and she said nothing when she spotted Josie watching her from the doorway. She hadn’t planned to acknowledge her at all until she came stomping up to the stairs.

“Hey, Mikaelson!” 

Hope’s eyes widened. The girls around her scattered like prey. 

“You have got some nerve!” Josie spewed, hands balled into angry fists at her sides. “How could you show your face around here after what you did!”

“What did I do?” Hope took a sip of her milkshake.

“Don’t act like you don’t know.”

“I  _ don’t _ know.”

“Penelope told me that you two slept together.”

“Did she now?” Hope stood up. “I don’t know what you think you heard, but last time I checked, you and Penelope were broken up and -”

“I  _ think _ I heard that you slept with my girlfriend, regardless of whether I dumped her or not. I  _ think _ I heard that  _ you _ still had a boyfriend too. And I  _ think _ I heard that you have a secret dark spellbook that my dad would love to hear about that includes a certain love spell. So what do you  _ think _ of that?”

“I think that if you have a problem with Penelope and I sleeping together, she’s right over there and you can ask her yourself.” Hope pointed over Josie’s shoulder to where Penelope had been watching them nervously.

“You’re going to pay for this, Mikaelson.”

“Okay.” Hope smiled pleasantly, stepping around Josie.

Penelope started, “Do you want to -”

“Yep.” Hope looped her arm through Penelope’s before she could finish her question. 


	26. Chapter 26

“When did you have time to tell Josie we slept together?” Hope asked, grabbing one of the cupcakes for the pageant and licking the pink icing off. “I mean, we spent the night together and I was there when you woke up. We headed over together.”

“I might’ve told her right after she said she was breaking up with me.” Penelope layered more pink onto the still-warm cupcakes. 

“Oh no.” Hope laughed deviously. “That’s … I mean, that’s good.”

Penelope nodded along, her mind somewhere else. “Do you think I only said that because I was slugged?” 

Hope’s heart dropped and she set the half-eaten cupcake next to her on the counter. Her appetite was suddenly gone. She knew she was going to have to tell Penelope what Dorian had told her, but she hadn’t expected to so soon. 

She had thought about spilling as soon as she got back to Penelope’s room, but when she crawled back into bed next to her, she decided against it. 

“Wait - do you think Josie only broke up with me because she was infected?” Penelope’s mind was working fast.

“Actually … supernaturals aren’t affected.”

“What?”

Hope couldn’t meet Penelope’s eye. “They only affect humans.”

“So we …” Penelope motioned between her and Hope.

“Yep.”

“Oh.” Penelope set down her bag of icing carefully. “I guess that leads me to my next question.”

“Hmm?” Hope picked it up and took over her job just for something to do with her hands. She wanted any excuse to not have to look Penelope in the eye.

“I have a Miss Mystic Falls escort outfit and no beauty queen to stand next to. Do you see a solution?” Penelope’s eyes sparkled hopefully. 

Hope wouldn’t look at them. “Pen … I’m still with Landon. He’s my date.”

“Right.” Penelope brushed the dried icing off her hands.

“I’m sorry -”

“It’s fine. I’ll catch you around.”

“I didn’t mean to lead you on -” Hope tried as Penelope turned to leave.

“No, I get it. I’ll see you after the dance.”


	27. Chapter 27

Landon knocked nervously on the Saltzman twins’ door. “Josie?”

“It’s open.”

Landon stopped when he saw Josie buried in her blankets on her bed. “Hey, I thought you said you wanted to talk?”

“I do.” Josie sat up, her movements slow and pained. 

“I can come back tomorrow if you want to sleep -”

“No, no, no.” Josie weakly shook her head. “Come sit.”

“Okay.” Landon ran the palms of his hands over his jeans, even more nervous than he was when he first got there. He sat at the foot of Josie’s bed. “What’s wrong?”

“Um …” Josie pretended to think. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just stressed about Miss Mystic.”

“That’s understandable.” Landon laughed a little, starting to relax. He had been afraid that Josie was going to talk about Hope, but he could handle some pre-show jitters. “It’s your first time competing.”

“Yeah, I just … do you think I’m pretty?”

“What?” Landon’s face went slack.

“I’m sorry.” Josie giggled a little, feigning embarrassment. “I just meant that I’m about to stand up in front of everyone in this dress and …”

“I think you’ll look beautiful. Especially if you’re having fun. That’s the important part.”

“Thanks.” Josie looked down to where she twisted her hands in her lap. “How is Hope doing with it?”

“Oh, Hope’s a pro at this.” Landon laughed and then stopped suddenly. “But someone sabotaged her dress.”

“Yeah, I heard that the girls were under the influence of something that made them act out.” Josie nodded along.

“This girl was a witch.”

“Oh.” Josie sighed. “Dress sabotage aside, how is she doing? I know she’s had a year with that breakdown about an imaginary friend -”

“Hope’s not crazy,” Landon interrupted.

“No, I know. I just … I know how draining it is for me with Lizzie and I -”

“What?” Landon stared at Josie. “Draining?”

“I know it’s not easy,” Josie said slowly, eyeing Landon strangely. 

“Hope’s not difficult.” Landon’s words were strong and sincere. “And neither is Lizzie.”

“I don’t think I’m wording this right.” Josie drew the corners of her mouth back. “I’m just trying to say that I understand how it feels.”

Josie leaned forward, covering the distance between them and pressing her mouth to Landon’s.

He pulled back. “You can’t do that -”

“I’m sorry. I just … I think I’m confused. I mean, with Penelope sleeping with Hope, I think I’m just looking to fill some void or something.”

“What?” Every muscle in Landon’s body froze, his heart dropping to his stomach. Josie couldn't have just said what he thought she did. He must've misunderstood. “What do you mean Hope and Penelope?”

“... and you didn’t know.” Josie looked down at the blankets in her lap. 

“Nope.” 

“Can I say ‘sorry’ enough times?” 

“No,” Landon said, already going in for another kiss.

Josie smiled victoriously against his lips, bringing a hand up to pull him in further. Instead, he jerked himself to his feet, scrambling away as if she were a monster. 

“I have to go!” he announced stiffly. 

Josie nodded ever-so-slightly, and Landon hurried out of the room as fast as he could.


	28. Chapter 28

“How are you feeling?” Lizzie asked for the hundredth time, sweeping eyeshadow across Hope’s eyelids. “Are you ready for this?”

“Yes,” Hope assured her with a smile. “It’s not my first time.”

“Well this is the first time you’ll win.” Lizzie snapped the palette shut aggressively. 

“That’s an awful lot of faith in a two-time second placer.” Hope looked up at Lizzie.

“Keep your eyes closed,” Lizzie commanded, already coming at her with an eyeliner brush. “I need you to do this. I  _ need _ you to win.” Lizzie’s breath tickled Hope’s face as she focused on the wing. “MG and my sister both need to be shown up.”

“MG? I thought you two were friends.” 

Lizzie didn’t answer.

“Is this about the other morning? I saw you two arguing by the water.”

“He was making fun of me.” Lizzie set her brushes down. “Just like the other witches do. So, no. We are  _ not _ friends. You can open your eyes.”

“Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know. He tried to make me think someone wasn’t real.” 

Hope’s heart leapt and she leaned forward, hands gripping the edge of Lizzie’s chair. She could barely get the question past her heart in her throat. “Jade?”

“No, Sebastian. MG tried to say that Sebastian isn’t real. But he is. I know he is.”

“Are you saying you remember someone nobody else does?”

“No.” Lizzie shook her head and pulled the dress off her closet door. “I still see him.”

“I don’t understand.”

Lizzie picked at tiny threads and lint on Hope’s dress. “MG says nobody else does - that I’m hallucinating him or something. But I didn’t. I didn’t just make up a boyfriend!” Lizzie’s voice started to get louder and higher. "I'm not that crazy! I wouldn't do that!"

Hope stood up, putting her hands on Lizzie’s shoulders and looking her evenly in the eye. “I believe you. I do.”

“I need you to promise me you’ll beat them.” Lizzie’s eyes burned into Hope’s. 

Hope swallowed heavily. “Anything for you.”

“Say it.” Lizzie held out a hand, pinky extended. “Promise me.”

Hope linked her pinky through Lizzie’s. “I promise.”


	29. Chapter 29

Hope stood in the hallway, buzzing with nervous excitement. She ran her sweaty palms over the skirt of her dress. 

Landon hadn’t shown up to her dorm before she left, and he still hadn’t arrived by the time the girls were being herded into place.

Hope could see Josie and MG, three couples in front of her. Josie chatted away happily, grinning and laughing with the contestants around her. Hope wondered if she would feel sadder if Penelope was still her date. 

By the time MG and Josie had their names announced, Hope was starting to get nervous. What if Landon never showed? What if she had to walk down all by herself? Would it be worse to leave the dance floor or to run through the motions by herself?

She was near tears when Landon stepped up beside her. 

“You made it,” Hope said, smiling through the lump in her throat. “I thought you were gonna make me dance by myself.”

Landon didn’t answer. He just stood there, silently and stiffly, dressed up in his suit. 

“Are you okay?”

“I kissed Josie Saltzman.”

Hope blinked, her eyebrows rising. “What? What do you mean you kissed Josie Saltzman?”

“I mean that I kissed her.” Landon finally turned to look at her. “And I think you know why.”

Hope said nothing.

“You slept with Penelope Park.”

Hope’s lips parted and her eyes started to shine. She didn’t want to cry; she didn’t want to play the victim here. But the tears still threatened to fall anyways.

“You’re not going to deny it?” Landon took a deep breath and looked forward again. “You understand why I can’t walk down and dance with you?”

“Landon …”

“You understand why, don’t you?” His voice got faster. “Tell me that you understand why.”

“Yes, I - I understand. But wait -” Hope grasped at Landon’s arm as he tried to leave. “Landon, just wait! Don’t leave me alone!”

But even with all her tribrid strength, Hope couldn’t hold onto him hard enough to make him stay. He pulled his arm away and her fingers slipped off the end of his sleeve. 

She turned back around, barely able to see the colors of the crowd through the tears blurring her vision. The lump in her throat grew in size, choking her quick breaths. She had just decided to leave altogether when a soft hand slid into hers.

“Need an escort?”

Hope balked at Penelope. “What are you doing here? I didn’t think you’d come at all.”

“What? And miss you in that dress?” Penelope’s eyes fluttered over Hope’s dress. She linked their arms together, her chin high. “Smile. Josie’s watching.”

They stepped up, next in line. 

“Lizzie gave me this dress,” Hope said, eyes on Josie on the floor who was giving her a glare that would disintegrate her on the spot if looks could kill. “It was supposed to be Josie’s I think.”

Penelope looked over the dress again, taking any excuse she could to look Hope up and down. “Looks better on you anyways.”

“Miss Hope Mikaelson, escorted by Miss Penelope Park!”

They began their slow descent down the steps. Hope watched the audience and Penelope watched Hope. Every time her smile started to slip and her eyes started to gloss over, Penelope would squeeze her hand gently. She didn’t speak until they had almost finished the dance.

“Where’s Landon? I thought he was your date.”

“Josie told him that we slept together, so he left.” 

“Oh.”

Hope opened her mouth to say something but then she was cut off by the judge.

“It is my honor to announce our very own Miss Mystic Falls!” she announced loudly. 

Everyone turned their attention to her, including Hope and Penelope. 

Hope’s breath turned stale in her throat, lungs starting to burn, but she couldn’t bring herself to draw in a breath until the winner was announced. Every nerve in her body snapped in the long, drawn out moments between the judge's breaths.

“Miss Josette Saltzman!”

It seemed like everything in the room stopped. The spotlight shone on Josie, white teeth shining as she beamed proudly. The girls around her congratulated her and she lapped it up eagerly, pretending to be humbled. 

Hope couldn’t hear their exact words over the rushing in her ears, and she could barely feel Penelope's hand on her arm. Just when she thought the dam behind her eyes would break, a pair of long arms pulled her into a hug.

“You deserved it,” Lizzie said into her ear. Hope buried her face in Lizzie’s blonde hair, thankful for something to shield her face as the tears started to fall. “You should’ve won. Everyone knows it.” 

“It was my last year,” Hope sobbed, gripping the back of Lizzie’s dress. Penelope set a hand on her shoulder. “I  _ lost _ .”

“I know. I know how bad you wanted it. I know how it was your last connection to your mom.” Lizzie’s own eyes started to water. “She would’ve been proud of you.”


	30. Chapter 30

The lights were off in Hope’s room. Her photo album laid open on her nightstand, the photo of her mother grinning under her crown still out even though it was too dark for Hope to see. As she closed her eyes, face still sticky from crying, her thoughts started to wander.

She rethought every move she had made throughout the entire pageant, every step or misstep, every answer, every mistake. Where had she gone wrong? What did she lack that she somehow hadn’t been able to figure out in the last three years? 

And then, after she’d wallowed in her misery long enough for the lump in her throat to come back, she led her thoughts to Landon and how Josie had told him about her and Penelope. It wasn’t that Hope was never going to tell him. She loved him, and she didn’t want to keep secrets from him. And she absolutely didn't plan on being a liar on top of a cheater, but she wanted to tell him at the right time. She wanted to be sure how she felt about Penelope. After all, it was one thing to just sleep with Penelope. It was another to be in love with her. 

She certainly liked Penelope swooping in at just right the moment, saving her from inevitable embarrassment, but that didn’t mean she loved her. Hope rolled over as if she were physically suffocating under the weight of her thoughts. She liked hanging out with Penelope, liked how well they worked together trying to solve their mysteries, and she definitely liked the way Penelope felt under her hands that night in the kitchen but ... was that love?

Hope pressed her face into her pillow as her thoughts marched their way to Lizzie. She could still feel the warmth of her embrace even now in the cold emptiness of her dorm room. Hope thought Lizzie had known all the right things to say, the exact words she'd needed to hear in that moment. She liked the way Lizzie’s arms felt around her, liked the way her hair smelled as she used it to hide her face, liked the way her breath tickled Hope’s ear when she spoke. 

Hope sat up suddenly, throwing all the blankets off of her. There was no way she was in love with Lizzie Saltzman too. 

How would she even know what love was? She thought she loved Landon but what she felt for Penelope was different, and what she felt for Penelope was different than what she felt for Lizzie, and what she felt for Lizzie was  _ way _ different than what she felt for Landon.

Hope let out a loud groan that sounded dangerously close to a growl and got out of bed. She needed to go to the woods. Everything was less complicated in her wolf mind. 


	31. Chapter 31

Hope was almost outside when the gym doors propped open and the sounds of someone hitting the punching bag stopped her. She peeked in, watching Landon for a few moments before she dared to step inside. 

“Hey …” Hope twisted her fingers together nervously. “I thought we should talk.”

Landon missed a beat. “I don’t really have anything to say to you right now.”

“Then listen?” Hope hated how impossibly small her voice sounded in the gym and she hated how Landon didn’t answer.

“I know it’s the oldest excuse in the book, but … it was a mistake, Landon.” Hope stepped forward. “And I know that it doesn’t change anything but I regret it. Not just sleeping with Penelope but also hurting you  _ and  _ not telling you.”

“Then why’d you do it, Hope?” Landon turned to look at her.

“Why’d I sleep with her? Or why’d I lie to you?”

“Both.”

“I … I slept with Penelope because … I don’t know - because she was the one person I could be honest with? I can’t trust anyone at this school besides you and … she remembers Jade. And she doesn’t think I’m crazy if I talk about her.” Hope took a deep, shaky breath. “That’s what I’ve been so busy with. We’re trying to figure out what happened to her.” She pushed her hair out of her face with trembling hands. “And I lied to you about it because - because I hated myself for cheating on you. I still do. I wanted to pretend like it never happened.”

“But it did.” Landon tilted his head. “And then you lied on top of it.”

Hope couldn’t keep his eye. “I know. And I want to make it right. I don’t know how, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes. I’ll earn your trust back. I’ll make it up to you. I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to fix it, because I don’t want to lose you, Landon Kirby.”

Landon folded his hands behind his back. “You don’t want to lose me?” He raised an eyebrow. “As what? Your boyfriend? Your friend? A prize you won? Because I will always be your friend, Hope Mikaelson, but it has been a long time since our relationship truly meant anything beyond that.” 

Landon turned back to the punching back. Hope wanted to say something else, something better, but the tiny fragment of truth in this sentence got stuck in her throat. Her eyes started to water and before he could see her cry, she left the gym.


	32. Chapter 32

Hope had barely closed the door behind her and crawled into bed when there was a knock at her door. Her eyes jumped instinctively to the clock on her nightstand. Who would be visiting her at three in the morning? Maybe it was Landon, come to have a second go at her - or maybe to apologize. 

She opened the door, ready to tell him to leave when she found herself staring at the door across from her. The hallway was empty and silent, as was to be expected five hours after curfew. 

But when Hope looked down at her feet, she saw a pink heart-shaped box dangling a card with her name on it tauntingly. She just stared at it.

Back when she’d first come to this school, the other kids used to play pranks like this with boxes spelled to throw glitter at her or to make loud noises after quiet hours. But as they all had grown, pranks turned into rumors and avoidance. It had been years since Hope had received one.

She nudged it into her room with her socked foot, ready for the scare. A quick silencing spell guaranteed that no one would get any satisfaction out of her reaction.

The lid was a little snug but after Hope shook it free, nothing happened. She pulled out a strange hunk of bronze, holding it up to the lamp light to inspect its odd angles and curves. Every scratch in the shiny surface caught the light.

There was nothing else inside the box, no name on the tag but her own. Whoever had left it gave her no explanation. Hope tapped a fingernail against it thoughtfully. What use was it to her? It clattered loudly when she discarded it on her nightstand to go to sleep.


	33. Chapter 33

When Penelope saw Hope at the end of the hallway, for the first time in a long time, she didn’t feel that familiar rush of excitement. What she felt was more of exhaustion. She had planned to slip around the corner before Hope ever saw her, but she lost that opportunity when Hope popped up in front her excitedly.

“Hey. Did you by any chance leave me a surprise by my door last night?” Hope asked.

“Nope.” Penelope pressed her lips into a flat line.

“Okay. Well how have you been?”

Penelope frowned at how unusually friendly Hope was being, even if she could hear how hard she was struggling to get the polite small talk about. “Fine.”

Hope furrowed her eyebrows, frustrated lines appearing around her mouth, strained pleasantness slipping out of her voice. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing,” Penelope fed Hope yet another one-word answer.

“Are you mad at me?”

“Should I  _ not _ be?” The witch finally asked, louder than she meant to. It caused several students to turn their heads.

Hope’s lips parted, eyes growing wide. Penelope had never seen her so caught off guard before. She almost looked … vulnerable. But Penelope didn’t say anything. She just set her jaw and stood her ground, and Hope’s face eventually returned to its usual stony look.

“I don’t even know what you’re mad about -”

“Yes, you do.”

“No, I don’t.” Hope drew in a sharp breath, crossing her arms. “Are you mad because I didn’t beat Josie or because I didn’t ask you to be my date or maybe because I didn’t want to break up with Landon after we slept together or because I’m also into Lizzie -” Hope realized she was rambling and stopped mid-sentence. “Sorry.”

“I was going to say because you’ve cut me out of our detective duo ever since we went to the puddle,” Penelope said.

Hope’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “Oh.”

“But you can add all that other stuff to it too.”

“Mm-hmm.” Hope struggled to look back at Penelope. “But, uh, just for the record … I haven’t been doing any detective work without you. I just … haven’t been at all.” Her small body seemed to deflate with the confession.

“Why not? I thought you were desperate to figure out what happened to Jade.”

Hope pushed her lips together, too ashamed to admit why. Unfortunately for her, it was the next thing off Penelope Park’s tongue.

“Miss Mystic Falls?”

“Yep! I let a stupid pageant - that I didn’t even win - get in the way of finding Jade.” Hope spun her guilt into anger. “And I let magical slugs run through the school without doing anything about it because I wanted to win.”

“Hope …” Penelope stepped closer. “You’re allowed to do things that aren’t related to saving the world. It’s not your responsibility to find Jade  _ or _ protect the school.”

“Not when I’m the only one who can do anything about it.”

“That’s your hero complex talking.”

“It’s not a hero complex. I’m a tribrid – I’m  _ the _ tribrid. It’s just facts.”

“You’re  _ nineteen _ !” Penelope wanted to grab Hope’s face and scream the words straight into her brain.

“So?”

“So you’re not the person responsible for everyone! You’re not supposed to be the hero here!”

“I don’t  _ want _ to be the hero!” Hope argued viciously. “I  _ have _ to be.”

“I am only going to say this one more time, Hope Mikaelson, so you better listen.” Penelope leaned in until her face was inches from Hope’s. “Hero. Complex.”

She turned back down the hallway before Hope could argue more.


	34. Chapter 34

_ She wasn’t right _ , Hope thought angrily as she walked along the edge of the water.  _ I don’t have a hero complex. I just have hero genetics. _

It wasn’t her fault that she was born the strongest being in the universe, but she couldn’t just do nothing about it. How selfish would that be to waste her abilities like that, to watch people get hurt knowing she could’ve stopped it?

_ It’s not a hero complex. It’s called having fucking morals. _

Hope stopped mid-step when she saw someone sitting on the edge of the docks. It was exactly where she had wanted to sit, and she was ready to turn and leave when she saw who it was.

“I still don’t have anything to say to you, Hope,” Landon said as she sat down next to him.

“That’s fine.” Hope’s feet dangled far above the water and she watched its rippling surface instead of Landon’s face. It was a long time before she spoke again. “Penelope Park told me I have a hero complex.”

“She’s a smart girl.”

Hope ground her teeth together. “Yeah, she is. But it got me thinking.”

“About your hero complex?” Landon grinned a little, amused.

Hope shook her head, hiding her own smile. “No. About us.” She took a deep breath. “You said something the other night – you wondered why I was so afraid to lose you. And it got me wondering too -” Hope stopped. “You probably don’t want to hear the answer.”

“Tell me anyway.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay,” Hope sighed. “Do you remember the night we danced in the town square?”

“Of course I do.” Landon still thought about it to this day. That was back before he knew anything about magic or about Hope, but he knew in that moment anyway that she was special. “No one would forget watching you dance.”

“It was the night you met my dad.”

“Yeah, the infamous Klaus Mikaelson.” Landon let Klaus’ name roll off his tongue in a mixture of disgust and something close to anger.

“Yeah.” Hope closed her eyes. “And he told me that night … that he liked you. He said he wanted me to keep you around for the rest of your life.”

“I got  _ Klaus Mikaelson _ ’s stamp of approval?” Landon raised his eyebrows, smile growing wider. He knew Klaus wasn’t someone whose approval he should hope for, but it still made him happy to have gotten it.

“I know it’s stupid. I do. But it kind of feels like you’re the last good piece of him that I have left. He didn’t leave a lot of good in this world.”

“It’s not stupid.” Landon folded his hands together. “And for the record, you don’t have to date me to keep me in your life, Hope. I’ll always be there."


	35. Chapter 35

“Hope Mikaelson …” 

Hope stopped in her tracks, eyeing Lizzie strangely.

“Receive any gifts lately?” Lizzie asked with her hands clasped behind her back and a mischievous grin on her face. 

Hope tilted her head back. Her eyebrows knit together almost accusingly. “That was from you?”

“Who _else_ is giving you presents?” Lizzie scoffed. 

Hope began counting off on her fingers. “Penelope, my boyfriend - my _ex_ -boyfriend -” Hope realized she had run out of people already. “Anyone but you.”

“Ex?” Lizzie’s eyes were laser-focused now.

“ _Not_ the important part here,” Hope said a little too quickly and a little too loudly. “Now, what was it supposed to be?”

Lizzie straightened her spine and drew her shoulders back as if she were about to give a speech to thousands of people instead of just answering Hope’s question. “It’s whatever was in that red box in my dad’s office. You know, from when you broke in.” Lizzie emphasized the last part and punctuated it with an eyeroll. “I did some research on it first, obviously. I mean, I wasn’t just gonna hand some hunk of junk over without knowing what it did, and it turns out, it’s part of something called an ascendant.” The words spilled from her mouth in a messy race to get to her final reveal. “A magical object used to create prison worlds.” She bit down on her smile, looking at Hope expectantly.

“A prison world?”

“Where you can send people who can’t be left in this world!” Her smile finally exploded across her face, all sparkling white teeth and crinkly eyes. “Crazy Lizzie solved your Jade mystery! You’re welcome!”

Hope was already thinking too far ahead to share the excitement. She bit the edge of her thumbnail as her mind worked. “But why would someone send Jade there? And if that is where Jade is then someone …”

“… then someone had to send her there.” Lizzie finished Hope’s thought with a slump of her shoulders. She seemed to catch her next brainwave without even so much as a shared glance. “ _You_ think it was my dad?”

“It would explain why he was so adamant that I not dig into this mystery.”

“But he would need a witch,” Lizzie argued.

Hope arched an eyebrow expectantly. “Like your sister?”

“Josie …” Lizzie raised a finger in the air like she was trying to physically summon her thoughts. “I have to go.”

“What? Lizzie -”

She raised her hands above her head, magic shimmering out of them the entire way. “But just to be safe, I’m putting a barrier spell around you.”

“Lizzie!” Hope tried to step towards the blonde and hit the invisible wall. “You can’t leave me here!”


	36. Chapter 36

“Dad!” Lizzie burst through his office doors loudly. Subtlety was the last thing on her mind.

“Lizzie.”

“You have got some explaining to do!” Lizzie pointed her finger through the air accusingly.

Alaric shoved his hands in his pockets. “You’re going to have to be a little more specific.”

Lizzie straightened her spine, controlling her voice with the practice of someone who had pulled herself back from the edge a hundred times. She clenched her thin hands into fists at her side as she concentrated. “Jade, prison world, ascendant,  _ Hope _ .”

“None of those words are related to each other.” Alaric was genuinely lost.

“You have been sneaking around every night!” Lizzie shouted. She ground her teeth together, forcing her voice back down once again. The words shook with effort. “You won’t tell me and Josie where you’ve been or where you’re going! There’s a missing student and you just so happen to have a piece of a magic device that can  _ literally _ make people disappear off the face of the planet.” Tears were starting to pool along the edges of her eyes now. “I don’t want to believe it, dad. I really don’t. But I can’t ignore what’s right in front of my face.”

Alaric had to drag his eyes up from the hideous carpeting. “Honey, Jade and the ascendant have nothing to do with each other. I promise you; your mother and I are handling both of those problems. It’s nothing you – or Hope – need to worry about.”

“What do you mean you’re ‘handling it?’ Is that where you’ve been sneaking off to?”

Alaric dropped his daughter’s gaze again. “Not exactly.”

“Then why?”

He took a deep breath but didn’t answer.

“Tell me!”

“I’m seeing someone.” Alaric’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“What?”

“I’ve started dating someone new – that new sheriff.”

“Oh.” Lizzie blinked a few times, raising her eyebrows.

“I was going to tell you. I just wasn’t ready for you and Josie to know because I wasn’t sure if it was even going anywhere -”

“Oh, no. I get it.” Lizzie put her hands up defensively and took a step back. “And I don’t want the details.” She swallowed, pulling her mouth back in overexaggerated disgust. “I just … I can't believe I could accuse you of something like that.” She started to cry now. "I'm sorry. I shouldn’t have -” Lizzie broke off in sobs.

“It’s alright.” Alaric pulled his daughter into a hug, wishing he could tell her the whole terrible truth.


	37. Chapter 37

Caroline knocked on the door to the twins’ bedroom gently. “You busy?”

Josie closed the notebook in her lap. “Nope. What’s up?”

“I saw that Hope Mikaelson wore my dress to Miss Mystic Falls.” Caroline leaned her shoulder against the doorframe.

“Yeah …”

“Are you friends with her now?” There was a sour note to her voice. 

“No.” Josie shook her head adamantly. “Absolutely not. Lizzie is the one who gave her the dress.” She sighed. “I wanted to wear it, actually.”

Caroline crossed her arms, still trying to appear casual. “So, Lizzie and Hope are friends then?”

Josie shrugged. “I didn’t even know they knew each other and then all of a sudden they’re all buddy-buddy.”

“They’re close enough for Lizzie to give her  _ your _ dress?”

“Apparently.”

“Did you say anything to Lizzie about it?”

“Of course I did!” Josie cried loudly. “She didn't listen. She just told me that it was only fair that Hope wore it.”

“Why would it be fair?”

“Because Hope’s dress got ruined.” Josie looked away when she lied, hoping her mother wouldn't notice. “And because Lizzie said it came from Hope’s dad or something.”

“It doesn’t matter what’s  _ fair _ or who the dress came from! What have I always told you girls about Hope Mikaelson?”

“To stay away from her,  _ I _ know! _I’m_ not the one befriending her.” Josie leaned forward, face scrunching up defensively. “So yell at Lizzie about it, not me.”

“Well you’re the one who lit her first dress on fire so I’m yelling at you too." Caroline snapped. “That’s not staying away from her!”

Josie’s eyes widened. How did her mother know what she had done? Josie hadn’t told a soul.

“Yeah,” Caroline said, nodding like she could read her daughter's mind. “Lizzie knows about it and so do I. That’s detention on Saturday.”

Josie tilted her head back defiantly. “For burning her dress or for not staying away?”

“Detention starts at nine,” Caroline said instead, closing the door firmly behind her as she left.


	38. Chapter 38

Hope sat in the window of the Old Mill, looking out at the now-dark field. The air had gone cold at the same time it had gone black – not that it affected the tribrid. She half-heartedly flung a hand towards the barrier only for it to be thrown back at her in a sad confirmation that she was still trapped.

She buried her face in her hands. If only Lizzie hadn’t run off right away, they would’ve come to the same conclusion she was sitting on right now. Jade disappearing into a prison world made sense on paper, but in reality, all the pieces just didn’t fit. It didn’t explain the puddle of black goo or how everyone magically forgot her. It would take an extremely powerful witch to cast a spell strong enough to affect the memories of the entire Salvatore School, and while Josie Saltzman was a special witch, she wasn’t that powerful. Even an experienced witch like Emma Tig wouldn’t be able to do something like that.

“Glad to see my barrier spell held up,” Lizzie said from the doorway, hesitant to step in.

Hope waved a hand through the air in annoyance. “Not like I could just siphon it away.”

“Well, before I take it down … I need to know that you’re not gonna kill me for it.” Lizzie smiled cheekily up at Hope.

“Of course not,” Hope said, words heavy with sarcasm. She hopped down from the windowsill with a dramatic sigh. “Why would I be upset that you  _ locked me in here for hours before we could even think it through _ .”

“I detect a hint of sarcasm.” Lizzie smiled lightly.

“A fucking  _ hint _ ?”

“I’m not letting you out until you’re nice!”

Hope rolled her head to the side, exasperated. “I’m gonna die in here.”

Lizzie sat down just outside the barrier spell. “So I take it you reached the same conclusion as me - that our first theory was wrong.”

“Yep.” Hope sat across from her, their folded knees practically touching. “I take it you got to that conclusion in a more embarrassing fashion?”

“I might have confronted my dad -”

“When you thought he was the one who sent Jade away?”

“In hindsight, it may have been a hasty plan -”

“And by yourself?” Hope scrunched up her nose trying to look irritated, but anger wasn’t what she felt. It was something more like fear and an irrational sense of guilt.

“Do you want to know what happened or not?”

“Just tell me.”

“My dad said that Jade and the ascendant are two separate problems - and that he and my mom are working on them both.” Lizzie raised a hand in the air, pressing her palm against the barrier spell and siphoning the magic that bound it out. She expected Hope to get up and leave at her first chance, but instead she stayed seated.

“Let me guess. He said it’s not something we need to worry about.” Hope rolled her eyes.

“How did you know?”

“Typical.”

“So, what do we do now?” Lizzie’s eyes were wide, and they made Hope shift uncomfortably at the way they bore into her soul, expecting her to somehow have all the answers.

Hope pressed her lips together as she thought. “We find the rest of the ascendant pieces, and we reverse the spell to see if it really isn’t Jade stuck in there.”

Lizzie started to smile again, but it got cut short by a voice coming from outside the Old Mill.

“Lizzie?” Josie appeared at the entrance. Her face fell into a deadly scowl when she saw her sister sitting on the floor across from Hope. “Mom’s looking for you.”


	39. Chapter 39

Caroline stormed through the school hallways, and the students all moved aside. They knew she was on a mission just from the way she walked. Alaric was stepping outside his office when she appeared, teeth bared in all her fury.

“Just the person I was going to find. We need to talk,” Alaric said.

“Yeah we do!” She pushed past him and into his office.

“Okay.” He stepped back in and closed the door. “Uh, you first.”

“Lizzie and Hope are friends!” Caroline stopped pacing to throw her arms out.

Alaric sighed. He knew this conversation was coming. “You can’t keep the girls away from Hope just because of Klaus. It’s not fair to them, and it’s certainly not fair to Hope.”

“You know the prophecy as well as I do! Death to all witches, Ric! And what are Lizzie and Josie? They’re  _ witches _ !” Caroline practically spat the words, eyes bulging wide.

“They’re kids! They all are!”

“Well Lizzie and Josie are  _ our _ kids! And they’re safer if they’re nowhere near Hope Mikaelson.”

“You mean your secrets are safer.” Alaric put a hand on his hip and met Caroline’s steady glare.

“We started this school to keep our daughters safe. That’s all I’m trying to do.”

“I started this school to help supernatural kids be better.”

“Well then maybe that’s the problem.” Caroline threw her hands in the air in defeat. “We don’t have the same priorities.”

“The best way to stop the prophecy isn’t to isolate Hope.” Alaric tried to reason with Caroline. “We can help her -”

“Well I just don’t see it that way, Ric.” Caroline stepped dangerously close, eyebrows furrowed. Alaric half-expected to see fangs and dark veins next. Caroline's next words were just as vicious. “Hope should’ve joined her father.”

“Who are you?” Alaric recoiled in disgust. He could barely recognize the blonde vampire in front of him. The Caroline he founded this school with would've never suggested something like that.

“I am Caroline Forbes! I’m a mother of two! And I no longer have the luxury of having a big heart and a trusting disposition! When I give second chances, I get fucked over!”

Alaric took a breath. “So, this is more about Klaus than the prophecy.”

“It has nothing to do with Klaus and  _ everything _ to do with the prophecy.” Caroline slammed her shoulder into his on her way out.

Alaric sank into the chair behind his desk, dropping his head into his hands.


	40. Chapter 40

Lizzie watched her sister out of the corner of eye. Josie scribbled away contentedly in her notebook, paying no attention to Lizzie as she got into bed. A small knock at their door drew both of their attention.

Alaric stepped in, closing the door behind him so no one in the hall could hear. “We need to talk about Hope.”

“Mom already gave us the lecture,” Josie whined dismissively.

“No, a different discussion.”

“What do you mean?” Lizzie pulled her blankets into her lap, shifting at the mere mention of Hope.

“I think it’s time for you both to know why your mother doesn’t want you around Hope.”

“I have my own reasons, thank you very much,” Josie snapped.

Lizzie looked at her in surprise. She knew her sister didn’t like Hope very much, but up until recently, she’d thought Josie just disliked her the way all the popular kids seemed to dislike the outcasts. She didn’t know that Josie hated Hope so vehemently.

“Like what?” Lizzie didn’t know what made her decide to push her sister, but she wanted to know.

“Like the fact that she’s insane for one!”

Lizzie flinched at the word and caught her father’s apologetic look. Neither of them said anything. 

“The fact that she slept with my girlfriend for another! How about the way she used to hurt us when we were younger?” Josie whipped her head around to glare at Lizzie pointedly. “Don’t you remember how she used to hex us and burn our stuffed animals?” She turned back to her father. “Aren’t those reasons enough? She scares me, Dad!"

“Hope doesn’t scare  _ me _ !” Lizzie sat up too eagerly.

Josie shot daggers at Lizzie with her eyes. “What?”

“Hope’s actually pretty cool.”

“Says you!”

“She is!”

“No, she’s not!”

The twins’ voice overlapped, getting louder and louder until Alaric put his fingers on his temples and shouted, “Girls!”

They both got quiet, looking at him in surprise. Caroline was one to yell easily, but not Alaric.

“Now listen. Please.” He pulled out Lizzie’s chair and sat down facing them, hands clasped grimly. “You both know Hope’s father -”

“Yeah, Klaus Mikaelson,” Josie grumbled. “Mom killed him like ten years ago, because he was evil.”

“But Hope’s not her father,” Lizzie said.

Alaric nodded. “Yes, I know that.”

“Does Mom?”

“Your mother is caught up on an old prophecy from before Hope was born that says that she will bring the end to all witches,” Alaric explained evenly. “Your mother means well but … her tactics are misguided. She’s afraid that Hope will turn out like her father.”

“Makes sense. They both sound like psychopaths,” Josie said.

“Hope’s not a psycho,” Lizzie jumped to her defense again.

“Really? Because I have a charred stuffed elephant and a note that next time it will be me that says otherwise!”

“Klaus didn’t have this school or these opportunities,” Alaric interrupted before another argument could break out. “Your mother wants to protect you, and I appreciate that, but I think we can do better. I think we can protect Hope too.”


	41. Chapter 41

“Mikaelson.”

An unfamiliar voice stopped Hope in her tracks. She didn’t turn yet - she was still considering walking away without looking to see who it was. The tribrid wasn’t in the mood for her classmates’ usual jokes and taunts.

“Don’t ignore me.”

Hope turned reluctantly. Wendy sat cross-legged on a table, twirling a ribbon between her fingers absentmindedly. Hope knew about Wendy, of course - everyone in the Salvatore School did - but she didn't expect her to ever speak to her. Wendy tended to keep to herself and her weekly detentions.

“What?" Hope sighed. 

“I have something for you.” Wendy giggled, and it made the hair on Hope’s arms rise. Something about Wendy’s too-wide grin that didn't make it to her wild eyes was making Hope uneasy.

“I don’t want it.”

“Lizzie Saltzman said you would want it,” Wendy sing-songed, twisting the ribbon more and more. Her fingertips were turning white from how tightly she had wrapped the black fabric around them.

“I’m listening.”

“You know how I spend every Saturday in detention?” 

“Yes, Wendy. I think the whole school is aware of your kleptomanic tendencies.”

“Big talk coming from the  _ school lunatic _ .” Wendy pouted her pitch-black lips. “Anyways, one time, Forbes left me for a minute. So, I stole something from her bag.”

“Am I supposed to be surprised?” Hope was starting to lose interest in the conversation. Her eyes were already wandering to all the exit strategies she could take.

Wendy’s waxy smile never shifted. “No, you’re supposed to ask what I stole.”

“What did you steal?”

“A funky metal thing. I thought it was junk.” Wendy shrugged. “But then Saltzman traded me a key to the confiscation cabinet to give it to you, so I assume it’s something special.”

Hope smiled, a tiny but genuine thing. “It is.”

Wendy dropped it into her hands. 

“Oh.” Hope’s eyes widened at how big of a piece it was. It seemed that Caroline had held onto most of the ascendant herself. “Thank you.”

“You can thank me by not trying to convince me that I’m missing a best friend anymore.” Wendy’s smile drooped finally, eyes watching Hope suspiciously. 

“Oh, you’ll remember Jade soon if I have anything to do with it. You just handed me one more piece of the puzzle.”

Wendy nodded once slowly, suddenly looking as though she were the uncomfortable one in the conversation. “Do me a favor, Mikaelson? Stay weird. It makes the rest of us look normal.”


	42. Chapter 42

Lizzie sat down, staring straight ahead. There was a group of students not too far away studying for an exam and she didn’t want to gather their attention, but she needed to talk to the boy next to her that they couldn’t see.

“You can’t be here.” Lizzie folded her hands in her lap, getting right to the point. “MG says you’re not real.”

“Of course I’m real.” Sebastian furrowed his eyebrows. 

“He couldn’t see you.”

“So? Don’t I look real?” 

“Yes, Sebastian!” Lizzie whipped her head around to glare at him. “You do look real! That’s the problem!” 

She spoke too loud, moved too fast, and suddenly the study group was staring at her, pencils frozen midair, jaws slack. 

“Is it not enough that you see me? Why must others?” Sebastian narrowed his eyes.

Lizzie pointed to the group frantically. “They think I’m crazy!” 

“I don’t.”

“Doesn’t matter!” Lizzie sighed loudly. “I finally have friends - a friend - who everyone can see. I can’t do this.” She hung her head sadly. “We can’t talk anymore.”

Lizzie got up to leave, but the stares stopped her. She pulled her lips back into a sneer, channeling as much bitchy energy as she could.

“What are you losers looking at?”

She stormed out of the library before she could hear their giggles.


	43. Chapter 43

Lizzie knew where she was going. There was one person who understood, one person she could trust to not make fun of her. She knocked on the door and didn’t wait for an answer before she opened it. 

“Hope?”

“Shh.” Hope was laying on her back on top of the blankets, hands clasped over her stomach. “I’m sleeping.”

The blatant lie caught Lizzie off guard for only a second before she regained her composure. “I told Sebastian we couldn’t talk anymore.”

“Who is Sebastian?” 

“The guy I’ve been seeing.”  _ Hallucinating _ .

“Oh, right. Right.” Hope nodded, eyes still closed, voice only half-interested. “The one with MG and the … yeah.”

Lizzie bit the inside of her cheek, taking another cautious step towards Hope's bed. “And my dad told me and Josie about the prophecy.” 

“What?” Hope sat up at that, eyes wide and alert. “Why?”

“He said it was time we knew. I think he’s tired of listening to my mom’s way of doing things.” Lizzie sat at the foot of Hope's bed. “Listen … I know what it’s like to have fate or destiny or the universe or whatever telling you that you’re going to turn out a certain way.” Lizzie swallowed heavily, thinking of the long line of evil twins that had come before her in the Gemini Coven. “And it doesn’t matter. Fuck destiny. You’re Hope Mikaelson. Now, move over.” 

Lizzie helped herself to the open spot next to Hope, clumsily crawling over her and pushing her out of the way. 

“What are you doing?”

“We’re screwing fate.” Lizzie crossed her hands over her stomach the same way Hope did. “Together. We’re going to figure out the ascendant and get Jade back. And we’re going to get Sebastian gone for good.” Lizzie pursed her lips, thinking. “And then we’re gonna get some much-needed revenge on Josie.” She nodded happily at her plan before she turned to look at Hope. “So rest up. You’re going to need your energy.” 


	44. Chapter 44

_ She’s a Mikaelson _ .

Hope opened her eyes, looking around the foggy room. She couldn’t figure out where the voice had come from.

_ She’s evil. _

Hope stood up, heels sliding against the smooth floor. “Hello?”

_ She’s going to hurt us all! _

A circle of children stepped out of the mist and into her view. Hope furrowed her eyebrows. They looked an awful lot like her classmates when she was younger.

_ She’s a Mikaelson. She’s evil. She’s going to hurt us all _ .

“Stop saying that!” Hope marched forward, face twisted up in fury. “Shut up! Just shut up!”

The children clasped each other’s hands, forming a seal around her. Their voices seemed to get louder and louder, chanting the words over and over again. She couldn’t cover her ears. The voices were coming from inside her head. 

_ It’s her. It’s all her fault _ .

They all pointed an accusing finger in unison.

_ It’s all your fault _ .

“It’s not!” Hope cried. “It’s her fault!” 

She pointed her own accusing finger at the redhead in the corner, her knees drawn to her chest, face buried in her hands. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry …” The younger Hope apologized over and over until it became an incoherent babble under her breath. She refused to open her eyes until she heard a familiar voice say her name. 

"Hope?"

“Dad?” Her bright blue eyes snapped open. 

“What are you doing here?” Klaus bent down to look at her.

“I hurt someone.” Young Hope wrapped her arms tighter around her legs. 

“Don’t apologize for it.” 

“But I  _ hurt _ someone!”

“You’re a Mikaelson. It’s what you’re born to do.” Klaus’ voice was low and calm. “It’s what we’re made for.”

Young Hope’s face crumpled, tears wetting her cheeks. “I don’t want to hurt people.” The sobs moved her entire body. “I don’t want to be a Mikaelson. She scares me.” 

Another young Hope stood across the room. She stared up at Caroline, anger hardening every feature of her young face. The actual words Caroline was using to scold her were replaced by a high-pitched tone that got louder and louder until that Hope threw out a hand and let the anger roll off it in the form of magic.

Caroline collapsed to her knees, clutching her head. Had she been human, Hope would’ve killed her that day. Had it been Dr. Saltzman whose office she was sent to instead, he would be dead. But Caroline was a vampire and she healed, not without a grudge. 

Caroline finally collapsed, the screaming and the twitching done. Hope just looked down at her unconscious body coldly. She squeezed her eyes shut, the guilt so strong that it tingled in her face. 

When she opened them again, she was lying flat on her back, staring up at the moon. She shot up, heart pounding in her chest. The forest around her was dark, but she could make out a figure running towards her. 

“Hope!”

“Mom?”

“What wrong?” Hayley asked, out of breath as she reached her daughter. 

“I’m a monster.” Hope fought back tears as she spoke, lower lip trembling.

“No, you’re not.” Hayley placed two hands on either side of Hope’s face. 

“I am! I’ve hurt people!” 

“Your father was a monster. You’re not.”

"No, I am.” Hope shook her head, the tears falling freely. 

Hayley brushed them away dutifully. “Impossible. You’re half me.”

“I’ve done bad things - to good people. Really bad things. Awful things.”

Hayley pulled her daughter into a sharp hug. “You are not what you’ve done.” She gripped Hope so tightly that her knuckles turned white. “You’re a Marshall just as much as you’re a Mikaelson. There’s too much good in you for you to be evil.”

Hope clung tighter to her mother as she sobbed. 

She pulled back when the woman in her arms began to feel strange. The tribrid recoiled in horror, dropping the dead body as fast as she could. She didn’t recognize the woman’s face. It was too smeared with blood. 

Hope’s hands trembled as she pulled them up to her face, fingers shaking as she swiped them across her lips. They came back stained in blood. 

Hope woke up screaming, and Lizzie’s concerned hands did nothing to calm her cries. 


	45. Chapter 45

Hope snuck out of her own dorm that morning, face burning with embarrassment at the memory of how she’d woken from her nightmare last night. Lizzie had held her while she cried and stroked her hair as she tried to fall back to sleep, but Hope couldn’t bring herself to look at the blonde Saltzman when she woke up again. 

Instead, she stole away to a quiet corner of the library with the two pieces of the ascendant and the latest book she was working her way through.

She couldn’t figure out how this contraption was supposed to go together. The books had been very descriptive about how to reverse the spell on an ascendant. Hope was confident that she’d be able to do that part easily. It was actually fitting the strange pieces together correctly that was stumping her. 

_ Maybe it’s the missing piece that’s the key to holding it all together, _ Hope thought.

“You deep in thought?” Lizzie asked, approaching slowly with her hands folded behind her back. It was so Hope couldn’t see the way they twisted together nervously. 

Lizzie had woken up alone in Hope’s dorm and waited a while for her to come back. When she didn’t, she began to wonder if she had done something wrong. Lizzie tried her best when Hope woke up screaming but it seemed like nothing she said or did helped Hope at all. 

“Uh-huh.” Hope nodded vaguely, eyes glossy but still glued to a page in the book. It had a drawing of an ascendant but not theirs. “I think I know everything there is to know about ascendants.” Hope leaned back in her seat, rubbing at her eyelids. “If I just had all the pieces and could put the damn thing together, I’d know exactly how to reverse it.” She forced a grateful smile. “At least, thanks to you, I have two out of the three pieces.”

“Well … what if we used those two to do a locator spell?” Lizzie sat down across from Hope excitedly, practically tripping over her feet in her haste to get there. She stared intensely at Hope, eagerly awaiting her response.

“A locator spell on an inanimate object?” Hope brushed it off. “Is that even possible?”

Lizzie shrugged. “I don’t see why not. Neither one of us is a conventional witch. I mean, I’m a Gemini siphoner and you’re a first-born Mikaelson witch. If anyone can, it’s us.”

“Magic doesn’t work like that.” Hope gave her another smile, but this one said to Lizzie that she was naïve and pitiful rather than a good addition to her team. “I’ve seen - and written - a lot of obscure spells, and I’ve never heard of anything like it. It has to be a living thing. There has to be a life force.”

“Well what if the magic in the ascendant was the life force?” Lizzie didn’t actually believe the words she was saying. She was making it up as she spoke, desperate to not look like an idiot in front of the Hope Mikaelson. “No, think about it. It’s a prison world. It has to have a constant source of magic, right? To keep existing?”

“And the magic flow that keeps that world alive would work like a person’s blood flow.” Hope nodded along. 

“All we would need is a tiny bit of the prison world magic from the pieces that we do have in order to track it.”

“That could work.” Hope scrambled for a piece of paper and a pen. “Could you siphon the magic from the pieces?” 

“Siphon it? No problem.” Lizzie rested her chin in her hand as she watched Hope scribble furiously. “But to hold enough magic like that … Well, very bad things happen to siphoners who take more than they can handle.” Lizzie grimaced as she remembered her mother's warning of what could happen if she or Josie overdosed. “I would need some sort of container to put it all in.”

“I might have just the thing.” Hope slammed her book shut. “Come with me.”


	46. Chapter 46

The hourglass was lovely. There was no sand in it, but Lizzie knew it wasn’t made for keeping time. The carved, wooden handles were more detailed than she ever could’ve imagined, and she couldn’t stop herself from admiring it as Hope worked. It was old but well taken care of. Someone had clearly loved this piece.

As if she had read Lizzie’s mind, Hope said, “It belonged to my Aunt Freya. She left it to me when she died.” Hope took a shaky breath. She ran the sweaty palms of her hand across her skirt, ready to change the subject. “Are you ready for this?”

“I’m gonna do everything I can to help you find Jade.” 

Hope shook her head, hiding her pain behind a half-smile and a light tone. “You don’t even remember her.”

“Doesn’t matter. Nobody else believes Sebastian exists. I help you with your person, you help me with mine. That’s the deal.” Lizzie nodded firmly and picked up the larger piece of the ascendant, sandwiching it in between her palms. “Now let’s do this.”

“Okay, slow down.” Hope laughed, pushing Lizzie’s hands down with her own. “You don’t even know what you’re doing. The container can only take in magic so fast. If you force too much in too quickly, it’ll shatter.”

“What happens if it shatters?” 

“I’ll be mad that you destroyed my Aunt Freya’s sandclock.”

“Oh.” Lizzie sighed, a little relieved. She’d thought there would be more dire consequences than Hope’s wrath - not that that wasn't known to be deadly.

“And the magic will rebound and probably kill you.”

Lizzie’s mouth dropped open. “Oh.”

“So, you’ll have to keep your hand on mine.” Hope pressed Lizzie’s hand to the top of the hourglass. “Just in case the magic’s too much for you, you can put some inside of me.”

Lizzie jerked her hand back, almost knocking over the hourglass in her haste. “But you’re not a siphoner. Forcing more magic inside of you will hurt you.”

“But it won’t kill me.”

“It could.”

“Then I would just come back as a vampire.”

Lizzie opened her mouth to argue more, but Hope cut her off.

“Come on.” She put Lizzie’s hands back in place. “Slow and steady.”

They both closed their eyes and barely breathed, too afraid to shake the unsteady balance as Lizzie carefully pulled magic from the ascendant. It flowed through her, in one hand and out the other. It hurt as it passed through her chest, and Lizzie worried that the powerful magic would be too much for her all-too-human organ. 

Terror iced her veins as she irrationally imagined Hope having to tell her parents that their daughter had somehow died of a heart attack, but she didn’t say anything to Hope, and Hope couldn’t see the pained expression on her face. The magic was beginning to make Lizzie nauseous and just when she thought she was going to have to stop, Hope cleared her throat.

“I think that’s enough.”

Lizzie smiled at the darkness just on the other side of the thin glass. It squirmed and moved as though the cloud of black were a living thing. But that's just what they needed.

Their eyes flickered up to each other at the same time, and their smiles only got wider. 

Hope went about the locator spell, effortlessly linking a bit of rat’s blood to the magic inside the hourglass. Lizzie watched in awe as Hope made such complex magic look so easy. She only tore her eyes away from the tribrid when the blood began to move across the map. 

Except it didn’t move far. 

“It’s here in the school,” Lizzie said, almost disappointed that they hadn't figured that out for themselves.

Hope, however, had already considered that. She looked closer at the map. “It’s in the armory.”

“Of course.” 

Hope’s chest swelled with so much pride that it hurt as she looked at Lizzie. Hope would’ve never thought to do a locator spell with the essence of the ascendant’s magic instead of blood herself. And she would’ve had no way to draw the magic out of the ascendant so cleanly and put it into the hourglass. Hope didn’t often need help, and when she did, she certainly didn’t get it so easily. 

She squeezed Lizzie’s hand. “You did it.”

“ _ We _ did it.”


	47. Chapter 47

“Did you hear …?” 

It wasn’t the first whisper Hope had heard directed at her that morning. 

“... the prophecy …”

Hope rolled her eyes and clutched her books closer to her chest. She tried to pretend like she couldn't hear them.

“... kill us all …”

Every snippet she heard, a new muscle in her body tightened. 

“Why is she still here?”

“... can’t say I’m surprised …”

“Don’t look at her.”

“She’s a Mikaelson after all.”

As soon as she heard  _ that _ word, she whipped around to glare at the witch who had said it. “Who did you hear it from?” she demanded without hesitation, biting down on the impulse to liquify her brain on the spot.

The witch just stared at her steadily, chin tilting up to look down even more at Hope.

“Tell me or I start the destruction of all witches with you.” 

The witch still didn’t look convinced, so Hope raised her spell-casting hand, only trying to decide between giving her permanent hives that got worse anytime she tried to hide them or trapping her at the bottom of the lake with her life linked to one of the watching vampires so she could drown over and over again. 

But then she spotted the brown-haired witch in the corner, hand covering her giggling mouth, and a large group of students gathered around her.

“Nevermind,” Hope said, not once taking her eyes off Josie Saltzman. The anger burned inside of her. For a minute, Hope thought it might burn her alive, but she knew she couldn’t do anything now, in front of everyone. Instead, she replayed Lizzie’s words inside her head, over and over again. 

_ And then we’re gonna get some much-needed revenge on Josie. _

The promise of a well planned-out vengeance later was enough for Hope to turn and walk away from Josie’s smug expression. 


	48. Chapter 48

Hope stood outside Dr. Saltzman’s door, eyes glued to the end of the hall. Every blonde who walked past made her heart leap with hope, but it was never Lizzie.

_ Hurry up _ , Hope thought, bouncing on the tips of her feet. 

She could feel all the students staring at her but nobody dared to say their thoughts out loud after this morning. Dorian had been quick to find Hope with her Saturday detention slip, but that did nothing for anyone’s fears that they would be next. 

_ Come on, Lizzie _ .

The door behind Hope creaked as it opened, and Hope squeezed her eyes tightly shut, entire body tensing just for one moment before she turned casually, a lazy smile on her face.

“Were you waiting for me?” Dr. Saltzman furrowed his eyebrows at Hope lurking outside his door. “You could’ve knocked.”

“Yeah, I just - I wanted to talk to you,” Hope lied, tripping over her words. 

“Oh good. I wanted to talk to you too.”

“Oh! You first!” Hope said too eagerly. All the better if she had more time to make up a believable lie. 

“Sure.” Dr. Saltzman looked startled. He spotted the students gawking nearby. “Let’s walk and talk.”

_ Oh fuck _ . “Okay.” Hope glanced back at the end of the hallway one more time, praying Lizzie would show up with the final piece of ascendant before Dr. Saltzman could slip too far away.

“I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about telling Josie and Lizzie about the prophecy. I didn’t know that one of them would tell …” His eyes jumped around the halls defeatedly, “... the whole school.”

“Oh, uh, thanks.” Hope’s smile was fast, gone just as quickly as it had appeared. “But it wasn’t ‘one of them.’ It was Josie.”

“I kinda figured. I’ll make sure it’s taken care of.”

“No offense, Dr. Saltzman, but what are  _ you _ gonna do? I don’t think Saturday detentions are working - for any of your students.”

Dr. Saltzman screwed up his face. It wasn't like he didn't know it was true. It wasn’t like he hadn’t noticed that Josie didn’t seem to care that she was in trouble, just that she got to do what she wanted before she got caught. And it wasn’t like he hadn’t noticed that Saturday detentions weren’t helping Wendy to stop stealing as much as her sessions with Emma had. But that was school policy to slap a detention slip on anything that could evolve rapidly into something bigger in a magic-fueled school.

“I’ll figure it out,” he said simply. “Now, you wanted to talk to me about something?”

“Yeah - Well - I mean, I’ve been thinking.” Hope clambered for the lie she had forgotten to formulate while he spoke. “It’s my last year here, and I’m still not sure what I’m going to do after I graduate.”

“You don’t have to know yet.” Dr. Saltzman’s tone was so casual that Hope almost believed it wasn’t her entire life decision waiting in the balance. 

She might be immortal, but she had a strong suspicion that these were still the most formative years of her life. This was her chance to set herself on track, but she wasn’t sure if that was college - they had discussed Whitmore several times before - or saving the world or hunting monsters here or traveling the world. 

“You’ll always be welcome in my school. I need more vampire and werewolf staff and … well, you’re both. Or if you wanted to continue your education, Whitmore is still an option. It’s a good college and pretty close by. And I can get you a strong recommendation from a former professor there.” Dr. Saltzman could feel the conversation taking its usual turn. This was nothing they hadn’t talked about before, and even he could feel the repetitiveness. “Listen, Hope, you can do anything you want. That includes trying things out and quitting or deciding you don’t like it. You may be a tribrid, but you’re also only nineteen. You have plenty of time to grow.”

“Yeah, Penelope’s given me the same speech before.” Hope rolled her eyes.

“Who?”

Hope’s eyes lit up when she spotted the streak of silvery-blonde hair hurrying down the hallway in the direction Hope was supposed to be in. “Nevermind! Thanks for the talk, Dr. Saltzman! I’ll see you around!” 

Hope took off after Lizzie, grabbing her shoulder before she could get away again. 

“What happened?” Lizzie furrowed her eyebrows. “I thought you were going to keep my dad in his office.”

“A slight improvisation on my part.” Hope cringed, following Lizzie up the stairs to her room. “But did you get it?”

“Of course I did.” Lizzie patted her backpack.

“Good.” Hope closed the door behind her and Lizzie. “Now all that’s left is to assemble it and reverse engineer that spell.” 

“Already halfway ahead of you.” Lizzie unzipped her backpack and pulled out the complete ascendant. She held it in her hands proudly. 

Hope’s smile slipped. “Then I’m sorry about this next part.” 

“What are you talking about?”

“ _ Ad somnum _ .” Hope caught the ascendant before it could drop from Lizzie’s limp hands but let the girl hit the ground. She stroked the edges of the ascendant thoughtfully. “It’s just too dangerous for you.”


	49. Chapter 49

The first thing Lizzie felt when she opened her eyes was anger. She didn’t have long to dwell on the betrayal though, because she wasn't in her dorm anymore and there was a woman standing over her.

“How are you feeling?”

Lizzie pulled herself to her feet, leaves crunching under her boots. “Like that bitch Hope Mikaelson knocked me out!” 

“Careful there.” The woman warned her, her tone suddenly sharp. “That’s my daughter you’re talking about.”

“You’re her  _ mom _ ?”

“Yeah, and I need you to tell her something for me, okay?” 

“Nuh-uh.” Lizzie shook her head violently. “You’re not real. I  _ know _ you’re not real.”

“No, I am.” Hayley grabbed Lizzie’s shoulders. “I am. I need you to deliver a message for me.” Her eyes bore into Lizzie’s desperately.

“Hope’s mom is dead.  _ You’re _ dead, you’re not real, and I  _ don’t _ have to deliver a message for you, because you are nothing but a fucked-up magical-coma-induced dream!” Lizzie clenched her hands into fists so tightly that they left marks. 

“Listen to me,” Hayley begged. “I know about Sebastian. I know that you think you hallucinated him -”

“I did!”

“You didn’t. And I know that you’re the only one who can see us -”

“This isn’t helping your case!” Lizzie shouted, bringing her hands up to her head. She twisted them in her hair as her eyes darted around the tree wildly. 

“It’s not because we’re not real!” Hayley yelled back. “It’s because we’re dead!”

Even the woods seemed to go quiet. There were no birds, no bugs, no wind - nothing. Everything froze.

“You’re telling me I see dead people?” Lizzie scrunched her nose up. “Ew.”

“Seriously?” Hayley asked. “You’ve been seeing a super-pale, invisible guy dressed in old-timey clothes who can vanish at will and you’ve never even considered the possibility that you could be seeing a ghost?”

“No, I didn’t! Because I still had  _ some  _ shred of my sanity left!”

“Will you deliver my message or not?” Hayley watched Lizzie stumble around the clearing blindly in her panic.

“Listen, Mrs. Ghost-Mikaelson!” Lizzie shouted, face tilted up to the treetops. “No offense and all, but your message to Hope isn’t going to matter.” Lizzie took a deep breath and looked at Hayley again. “She’s never going to believe me. Everyone already thinks that I’ve lost my mind, and - oh! - looks like I have officially lost my last marble!”

“Tell her anyways,” Hayley said. “I need her to know her father can’t be let into the world free. She has to stop him at any cost.”

“Klaus Mikaelson is dead.”

“No, he’s not.” Hayley swallowed heavily. “Klaus is an original hybrid. He was too strong to be taken down permanently, and there was no cell on earth that could hold him and his out-of-control bloodlust.”

“You’re telling me _ he’s _ the one in the prison world?” Lizzie cried, already skipping ahead.

“Yes.”

“But Hope’s about to do a spell to open that portal!”

“Then wake up and stop her!” Hayley said. “And if you can’t, you need to help her kill him once and for all!”

Hayley’s voice was still ringing in Lizzie’s ears when her eyes snapped open and she found herself staring up at her own bedroom ceiling.


	50. Chapter 50

Hope kneeled on the ground, her breath held and eyes on the ascendant. It whirred and spun around eagerly, but all Hope could do was wait for someone on the other side to step through the portal. She had activated it easily; it was the waiting that was the hard part. 

Or at least, she  _ thought _ that would be the hardest part. 

“Dad?” Hope pulled herself to her feet. 

Klaus stared at his hands, as if he couldn't believe he was real, and then around at Hope’s dorm room. He took a step forward, hitting the barrier spell Hope had put up.

It was a good thing she always over-prepared and had decided that a barrier spell specifically designed to hold anyone who walked through the portal would be a good safety precaution. 

“Let me out.”

“Maybe you should take a moment -”

“Let. Me. Out.” The dark veins under Klaus’ eyes appeared. “I’ve been stuck in that hellhole for a decade! I’m starving!”

Hope’s eyebrows pulled together painfully. “I understand that -”

“Then let me out to feed!”

“I would but ... it’s just that you seemed a little … unhinged.” Hope touched her fingertips together lightly.

“Of course I’m unhinged!” Klaus shook with his rage, surging against the barrier again.

Hope nodded. “I can get you blood bags, but I you need to calm down before you can feed on a hum-”

“I need to  _ feed _ ! Not sip on your stale leftovers!” He banged his hands against the edge of the barrier spell. 

“Well you can’t feed on the students here. You would have to be able to make it into town.”

“You know what? You can’t -” Klaus broke off suddenly, looking towards the door behind him. “Did you hear that?” 

“Hope! Don’t open the portal! Hope! Please wait!” Lizzie burst into the room and right into the circle Klaus was trapped in. She spotted him, eyes going wide. “Oh no.”

Klaus was in front of her impossibly fast, hand around her throat before she could even think about moving away. 

“A friend of yours?” he taunted Hope, lifting Lizzie's feet off the ground. 

“Let her go,” Hope begged. “I’ll find you someone else -”

“She is not a bargaining chip!” Klaus whirled so that Lizzie was looking at Hope while she clawed at his hands futilely, her eyes wide and terrified. “She is a lesson! It’s a good thing I don’t care for the blood of witches. She is of no use to me.” 

Klaus snapped her neck violently, sending her blonde hair flying. Her body made an awful sound as it hit the floor. 

“Lizzie!” Hope started to rush forward until she remembered the spell. With one snap of her neck, the spell would fall and Klaus would be set free onto the students.

He tilted his head, a sick grin spreading across his face. 

“Tick-tock. I’m waiting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small break in updates while I finish plotting out the second half but I'll be back soon!


	51. Chapter 51

“You killed her.” Hope’s voice was small and shaking. “You killed her!”

“Yes, you’ve said.” Klaus rolled his eyes. 

“Of course I have! You  _ killed _ her!”

“Well nothing either of us can do about it now, so why don’t you go ahead and just set me free?” Klaus knew it wouldn’t work. There was no chance Hope was going to let him out, but he had to say it anyway, just to watch her leap to her feet in outrage.

“I’m not letting you out!” She balled her hands into fists at her sides. “You just killed someone! I should send you straight back to the prison world.”

Hope sucked in a sharp breath as they both heard the key word:  _ should _ .

“You won’t send me back.” Klaus smirked, settling down contentedly. “I’m your father, and that place was hell.”

“My father?” Hope straightened her spine, her words more forceful than she felt. “You are not my father. You’re a murder. I  _ am _ sending you back.”

“Then just get it over with.” He raised his eyebrows in a silent taunt. “I was  _ this _ close to getting out on my own anyways.”

“You’re lying.”

“Am I?” Klaus tilted his head. The corners of his lips tugged upwards with amusement. “Why would I lie now? Go ahead. Send me back and see for yourself. I’ll hop right in that delightful tar pit over there and pop right back out over here. Like  _ magic _ .”

“A puddle of black goo?” Hope’s wide eyes snapped to him, every muscle in her body tense.

Klaus shrugged. “More like a cozy indoor pool surrounded by a top-secret facility, but sure.” 

“Where?”

“Awfully demanding, aren’t we?” 

“ _ Where _ ?”

“Look at us. I have information you want; you have something I want. What a predicament.”

Hope scoffed. “This isn’t a negotiation. I’m still not letting you out.  _ Ever _ .”

“I’m open to a new deal now.” 

She hesitated, looking at Lizzie’s lifeless body in the heavy silence. There was no way she could give her father anything he wanted after what he did. But her voice worked ahead of her. “I’m listening.”

“I can settle for takeout.” Klaus beamed like he’d just offered her exactly what she wanted and as though there wasn’t a blonde corpse at his feet. “You bring me three students to feed on, and I’ll tell you a location and a name.”

Hope crossed her arms, pretending to consider it while she bit down on her rage. “You know what?” Her deep breath shook with effort. “How about we talk deals after Lizzie’s funeral? We’ll see just how generous I feel then.”

She held out her hands, pulling Lizzie to her with her magic. The girl was weightless in Hope’s arms as she carried her through the halls under the protection of an invisibility spell.


	52. Chapter 52

Hope set Lizzie carefully outside of the headmaster’s office, propping her up so that if she weren’t invisible, she would appear to just be sitting against the wall - that is, if her head didn't dangle at such a sharp, unnatural angle. The door clattered against the wall when Hope carelessly threw it open, catching Alaric by surprise. 

“Who is in the prison world?” she demanded, slamming the door shut behind her. The framed certificates on the wall shook in their places, the things on shelves rattling.

“Hope, we talked about this -”

“My father.” Her face scrunched up in fury. Somehow, she was already sick of playing the game she had started. Her jaw ached from how tightly she was clenching her teeth. “Well -” She scoffed with a twisted smile, fingernails digging into the soft palms of her hands, “- I guess technically no one now since he’s here.”

“What do you mean he’s here?” Alaric’s face dropped, dread making his blood run cold. “What did you do?”

“I thought it was Jade!” Hope cried.

“So you let him out?!”

She pointed a shaking, accusing finger. “ _You’re_ the one who lied to me!”

“To _protect_ you!”

“Well look how that turned out!” Hope whipped the door open. “ _This_ is what you get for lying!” She dragged Lizzie into the office, lowering the cloaking spell and dropping her unceremoniously into the center of the warm office. Her head rolled to the side, gray face turned towards Alaric. “Enjoy your dead daughter!” Hope barked, storming out of the room before she could see him drop to his knees next to his dead daughter. 


	53. Chapter 53

Hope walked through the school barely seeing any of the other students. She knew she looked half-crazed, eyes wild and red from crying, but she couldn’t even feel her hands and feet, much less any sort of emotion about  _ that _ . She was pushing her way through any obstacle in her path, human or not. 

She didn’t stop until she reached Penelope’s room, pushing open the door without knocking. She knew Pen wouldn't mind, especially with an emergency this big.

The bare bed and blank walls made the boiling blood in her veins freeze. Hope backed out of the room, grabbing the arm of the first person to pass hard enough to leave bruises where her fingers were.

“Where is Penelope?” she demanded.

“Who?” The witch looked at her with wide eyes and drawn-together eyebrows. “I don’t know a Penelope.”

“What are you talking about? Everyone knows Penelope Park.” Hope deadpanned. The girl still looked confused. “She’s the most popular witch in this school?” Hope’s frustration was growing and the irritation was audible in her voice. 

“I can’t remember ever hearing the name Penelope Park.” The witch’s voice quivered. 

“She lives right here!” Hope bared her teeth, throwing a hand towards the door with the missing nameplate.

“I can’t - I mean, I don’t - I don't know.” 

Hope thought that if the witch’s eyes grew any wider, they would pop out of her head. But before they could, the witch pulled her arm out of Hope’s grasp and scurried off, glancing over her shoulder until she was certain Hope wouldn't follow her.


	54. Chapter 54

Josie’s lower lip shook, eyes brimming with tears. “What do you mean she’s dead?” 

Alaric swallowed heavily. “It happened a few hours ago.” 

“Does Mom know?” 

“Not yet.”

“Mm-mm.” Josie shook her head as tears spilled down her face. “She’s not dead.”

“Josie …” Alaric moved to hug his daughter but she jumped backwards.

“No! No.” Her head continued to fly back and forth, vehemently denying it. “She’s my twin. If she died, I would’ve felt it. I would’ve felt  _ something _ !” Josie’s hands fell into her lap helplessly. “She can’t be …” She sniffled loudly - just once - before she drew her shoulders up, breathing deeply, and rubbed her puffy face. “Who’s fault is it?”

“That’s not -”

“ _ Who _ killed my sister?” Josie demanded wetly. 

Alaric’s face crumpled, his eyes dropping from his only daughter’s face. “Klaus Mikaelson killed her. But it’s my fault.” He brushed tears away roughly with the back of his hand. “Mine and your mother’s. No one else’s.”

“No …” Josie shook her head again, much slower this time. “No, Klaus Mikaelson is dead.”

She knew it was true. Their mother had always told them about how she defeated the great and evil Klaus Mikaelson, about how she made sure her daughters and everyone else's children were safe. Klaus couldn't have killed her sister. It just wasn't possible.

“He was only in a prison world. And then he escaped.”

Josie’s face collapsed in, finally releasing what denial had pushed off. “No,” she sobbed. “No, Lizzie …” She fell into her father’s arms and cried.


	55. Chapter 55

Hope slammed the door to her dorm behind her. Everything in her room rattled around her, paintbrushes and pencils clattering to the floor without her ever touching them. The sound of them spilling across the hardwood woke a bubbling rage that had been hiding under the tears she was holding back. 

With one angry sweep of her arms, she mindlessly sent a canvas and a cup of colorful water crashing to the floor. The cup shattered and threw diluted colors across her half-finished painting. 

She screamed, furious at the ruined painting, shrieking and throwing things around until her arms were too tired and her voice too hoarse to continue on. 

She flung herself to the floor, looking around her destroyed room, hands twisting in her hair. Soon the tears were too thick to see the wreckage. She could feel them falling steadily onto her shirt. 

“Fuck!” Hope kicked a nearby pillow, hating the fact that she had exhausted herself before her anger could lessen at all. 


	56. Chapter 56

“ _ What _ ?” Caroline’s entire body was tense, spine uncomfortably straight and voice unnaturally controlled.

“It was Klaus.” Alaric sat on the edge of his desk, folding his hands in his lap. 

“Klaus Mikaelson is locked away in a magical prison world!” Caroline protested, voice getting higher and higher with every word. “How did he get out, Ric?!”

“That’s not what’s important."

Caroline tilted her head, seeming to read his mind. Her lips pulled back, eyebrows smoothing out as a thought formed. “It was Hope, wasn’t it? Hope Mikaelson let her father out.”

“She didn’t know.” Alaric shook his head. “We lied to her - we lied to everyone.”

“It doesn’t matter!” Tears were starting to gather at the edges of her eyes. “My daughter is still dead!”

“ _ Our _ daughter!”

“She is  _ dead _ !” Caroline pushed blonde hair out of her face. “We have to do something.”

“Can you just - just for a minute - stop looking for someone to blame and grieve?” 

“No.” Caroline shook her head, still biting back on her tears. “No, Lizzie is dead and it is someone’s fault. Someone has to pay! We have to make someone pay, Ric!”

"No! No, we have to be there for Josie -"

"Someone got my daughter killed!" Caroline's tears were gone now, replaced by pure anger, as she stormed to the door. "Someone needs to be held accountable! I have to do something!"

She flung the door open and disappeared into the hallway before Alaric could say anything else.


	57. Chapter 57

Hope watched as Caroline stood over the open casket. The headmistress wiped a stray tear from her cheek before she turned and walked back to her seat, heels somehow not making a noise on the floor. Despite the room being full of students and staff, it was dead silent. 

As Alaric stood behind the microphone, eyebrows pulling together in pain, Hope realized his speech wasn’t making any noise either. All she could hear was the sound of her heart pounding in her ears and a high-pitched ringing. She clenched her hand into a fist, fingernails digging into her hand, but she couldn’t feel it. 

Caroline and Josie sobbed their way through Alaric’s speech, clinging to each other. Behind them, Kaleb clapped a hand onto MG’s shoulder. Hope just watched. 

Caroline’s speech next, then Josie’s, then MG, and finally a couple students shakily volunteered stories. 

It wasn’t until Hope was out of the room and glaring at her father that she heard another sound. It was her own voice, rough from crying and saturated with anger.

“Yeah, you’re still spelled in.” Hope crossed her arms at her father with his back to her, hands pressed against the invisible wall. “The barrier spell didn’t go anywhere.” He didn’t acknowledge her, and she stepped up, collecting her fury. “You know, I’m not stupid enough to leave you a way out!” Still no response. “Let’s make a deal.”

He finally turned. Hope couldn’t tell by his stoney face if he was even mildly interested or not. She forged ahead anyways.

“I bring you three students.” Her voice wavered with the effort it took. “And I make the rules. You get one for the name. You get another for the location. And then you get on more when you tell me how I get someone out of it.”

Klaus shook his head, smiling. “I don’t know how to do that.”

“What do you mean you don’t know how?” Hope stepped dangerously close to the barrier. “You were the one who was gonna jump into it!”

“Yeah, in a desperate, last-ditch effort! It wasn’t exactly my first plan!” 

“No.” Hope shook her head and turned away. “No, you’re lying. I’m not  _ stupid _ . You’re trying to trick me.” She waved her finger through the air as she gathered her courage. “You don’t actually know anything about this pit. You just want students to feed on.”

Klaus smiled darkly again. “Maybe it is a trick. Maybe I don’t know anything, but you’ll never know if you don’t try.” That sick smile grew wider. “You’ll never get your precious Penny back without my answers.” He laughed at the way Hope’s lips parted as her jaw went slack. “Vampire hearing, remember?” He gleefully pointed to his ears. “You want your friend back - well, the one I  _ didn’t _ kill.”

“I want answers.” 

“And you’re willing to pay with your classmates’ lives?”

The answer came with no hesitation. “Yes.” 


	58. Chapter 58

Lizzie’s eyes fluttered gently. Wherever she was, it was warm and dark and she never wanted to leave. Her eyelashes kept lightly moving against her cheeks, and her mother watched contentedly. It was a long while but when they finally opened, Jo smiled warmly.

“Hey. You’re awake.”

Lizzie sat up, the sleepiness wearing off. “You -”

“Me.” Jo’s smile grew wider as her heart swelled. She'd been watching her daughter for a very long time, but now that she was right in her front of her, it was overwhelming. “I didn’t expect it quite so soon, but I’m glad to see you.”

“What?” Lizzie’s breaths became shallow. “Am I -?”

“Dead? Yeah.”

“I’m  _ really _ dead?” Her hand reached up to her neck, as if it were remembering what happened before she did. 

“For now.”

“What do you mean ‘for now’?” 

"Well," Jo folded her hands in her lap, "people with your gifts don't really stay dead for long."

"Magic?" Lizzie crinkled her nose. She knew plenty of dead witches. None of them ever came back, and not for lack of trying.

"No." The brunette shook her head gently. "I'm sure by now you've noticed your unusual connection with death. You can see those who have passed to the Other Side. They see you too, and they will help you back across when the time comes."

"When the time comes?"

"Wherever you're ready."

She said it so serenely that Lizzie felt like she may never leave. The afterlife, she thought, felt very much like a warm bed in the early morning. She'd do anything to stay.

"I wouldn't wait too long, though," Jo said as if she were reading her mind. "Your dad and your mom and your sister are really hurting."

"I don't … I mean, do you think I have enough time for you to tell me about my powers?" Lizzie asked softly. 

"Absolutely." Jo's face exploded into another smile. "Everything I know."


	59. Chapter 59

Hope sat at a table in the library, wiggling a pencil in her hand. From the outside, it might have looked like she was working on a homework assignment. She bet that not a single person would guess that she was making a kill list.

The first name at the top had already been scribbled out.  _ Josie Saltzman. _

She was a natural first choice. Except, Hope didn't think that the Saltzmans could handle another dead daughter.

Lizzie’s voice echoed in her mind.  _ We're gonna get some much-needed revenge on Josie. _ Hope was going to have to get revenge on her own now. She didn't even have the queen of revenge Penelope Park to help her anymore.

The pencil in her hand snapped, and she jumped back, the few students in the library with her turning to look at her strangely. Hope glared back at them.

_ I could add any of you to the list. _

And then, like stars aligning, Hope counted the number of people in the room with her. 

Three.

And not a single more to be left as a witness.


	60. Chapter 60

“Do I have to leave you now?” Lizzie asked. She was aware of how child-like her voice sounded, but she wanted nothing more than to stay in the warm place with her dead mother she missed so much.

“Oh, Lizzie …” Jo whispered.

“But I don’t want to go back without you!” She leaned forward, reaching for her mother’s hands. She was surprised at how they managed to be even warmer than the air around them. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too.” Jo squeezed her hands back. “But you can’t stay here.”

“But I can! No, think about it! Mom and Dad still have Josie, and Hope has Penelope. They’ll all be okay without me.”

“You’re not replaceable with other people, sweetheart.” Jo furrowed her eyebrows and stared at her daughter incredulously. 

“But we could have each other. And when my mom and dad get here, we can all be together. And then Josie, when it’s time. I’m already dead. It’s natural that I should stay dead anyway. It’s how it’s supposed to be.” But even as Lizzie said it, she knew her mother wouldn’t let her stay there.

“You know, -” Jo pursed her lips. “- I have seen a lot of people die and come back in my time, and there is nothing natural about a supernatural who stays dead. It’s much rarer than you would think.” She gave a light laugh, her mind on some distant memory. “Besides, now that you know about your abilities, you should get the chance to use them. You have so much to do. I’ll be fine on my own. And when you come back to me in sixty or seventy years, it will be like no time has passed.” Jo sighed and looked at Lizzie’s downcast eyes. “You’re a beautiful person, Lizzie. You have so many beautiful things left to do. And I can’t wait to watch you do each and every one of them. But you can’t do all that here. Everyone down there needs you.”

Lizzie nodded vigorously, as if she were trying to convince herself. “So how do I get back?”


	61. Chapter 61

Alaric’s hands were shaking so badly he could barely balance the framed picture against his daughter’s grave. He crouched in front of the fresh stone, a cold hand pressed to his mouth. 

He knew he was alone in his guilt for now. Caroline was too filled with anger and too preoccupied with Josie to feel anything else. So, for now, he was on his own with his swirling storm of “what if”s and “if only”s, and for once, he wasn’t drowning them in alcohol. For Lizzie. Tonight, he was going to be numb from the cold instead of anything else. 

He stood and pressed his hand to the top of the gravestone in a silent goodbye, wordlessly promising to return tomorrow. He took off down the dark trail, gravel crunching under his shoes. 

He was long gone on his way back to the Salvatore School when a dirty hand clawed its way through the fresh dirt. 

There was no magic inside of her. Lizzie couldn’t blast the dirt away. She had to dig furiously, gasping as she pulled herself out of the dark hole. Her eyes were wide as she took in her dim, disoriented surroundings. Legs shaking, she pulled herself to her feet and brushed dirt off her funeral dress. 

Her steps were stumbling, but she dutifully followed the path back to the Salvatore School with a fuzzy mind and ringing ears.


	62. Chapter 62

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: Murder

“One -” Hope faced her father and held the trembling girl by her shoulder, gripping tightly enough that she couldn’t get away, “- in exchange for the name.”

The girl whimpered and sniveled next to her, begging for her life in ragged breaths, but Hope only shushed her.

Klaus’ fangs were out, dark veins prominent under his eyes. He practically growled the word out in so much excitement. “ _ Malivore _ .”

Hope nodded once and looked at the girl. 

“Please,” she whispered, snot and tears running down her face. Her eyes were puffy and pleading.

But Hope just pushed both of her trembling shoulders forward, forcing the girl to stumble inside the circle. Klaus dove for the neck, dropping the drained girl to the floor before she could even get out a scream. Hope couldn’t look at her face. She just grabbed the next student.

“ _ Sugere _ .”

Fear lit up their eyes the second they were conscious. The pleas started moments after.

“The location,” Hope demanded, using both hands to keep them from escaping.

“What location?” they whimpered.

“ _ Not _ you!” She glared at her father impatiently. 

“Fort Valley, Georgia.” Klaus tilted his head back, letting the blood run down his chin. 

Hope obediently pushed the student into the ring, cutting her eyes away again as Klaus loudly devoured them. Their body thudded to the floor just like the girl’s.

Hope woke up the final student, pushing him up to the edge of the barrier. “And for the last one, you tell me everything you know about Malivore.”

“Let’s see.” Klaus licked the blood off of each of his fingers carefully. “It’s a hell dimension. A rather lonely one, by the testaments of Triad Industries. It was created by a witch, a vampire, and a werewolf to wipe every other supernatural creature off the face of the earth. But it doesn’t just consume these creatures. No, it erases them from the collective conscience. A fate worse than death. No one remembers them, and they are doomed to an eternity of isolation and misery. That’s all I know.”

“How do I believe you?”

“You find a way,” Klaus said. “Because even though it’s not what you wanted to hear, deep down you know it's true.”

Hope considered for one horrifying tense moment before she shoved the boy forward and into the circle. This time, she left before she could hear a third body hit the floor.


	63. Chapter 63

Hope leaned against the archway, watching everyone in the common area. Someone had set up food and drinks by the fireplace, and everyone sat around, smiling and talking and laughing.

_ A celebration of life _ , they had called it, said they were doing it in Lizzie’s name. 

It just looked like a fucking celebration to Hope. She narrowed her eyes at Josie, sitting on the couch, surrounded by doting friends. She was just lapping it up, all the extra attention and sympathy.

“Hey.” Rafael approached the group cautiously, eyes bouncing between every memeber. “Jo, I’m so sorry about your sister.”

“Thanks, Raf.” Josie smiled up at him, batting her eyelashes. He offered her an awkward, flat-lipped smile before walking away. Josie watched him go and leaned in to one of her friends to whisper through a giggle, “He’s so hot.”

Hope bit her cheek hard enough to hurt. That all-too-familiar feeling of blood-boiling, vision-spotting anger had returned, and she needed to be far away from Josie Saltzman before she unleashed it. 

She was storming down the hallway towards the dorms when she saw the shock of platinum blonde hair a couple of yards down the empty hall. She had stopped, just to admire how similarly colored it was to Lizzie’s, when she saw what the girl was wearing. Hope’s still breath burned in her throat as she locked eyes with her. Every muscle in her body was locked in place, heart barely beating.

“Lizzie?” She broke out of whatever trance she had been put in, rushing forward and pulling the tall girl into an embrace.

Lizzie’s skinny arms wrapped tightly around her, hard enough to hurt. “ _ Hope _ .”


	64. Chapter 64

“I … I died,” Lizzie said when they pulled back.

“I know.” Hope looked up at her softly, her voice even softer. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Lizzie gave her a flickering smile, like she was happy but there was something else on her mind. “We have to talk.” She looked down the hallway, towards the source of all the noise. “Somewhere else.”

“Okay?”

They ducked into the closest room, closing the door behind them. 

“Okay.” Lizzie dried her sweaty palms on her dusty dress. “So - Well, I guess - Nope, before that. When you knocked me out, I saw your mom - I see dead people, it’s a long story - and she told me to tell you that you can’t let your dad out.” She tilted her head. “Now, since you already did that - not your fault - we have to find a way to kill him.”

Hope pulled a face. “I hear you,” she said. “But here’s the thing. He might be the only key to getting Penelope and Jade back.”

Lizzie’s eyes grew wide and her face went slack. “I remember!” Her mouth opened wide, almost edging on a smile. If her jaw wasn't so low, it might've been a huge grin. “I remember them! It’s like I died, and now my mind is crystal clear.”

“Good. Because we’re going on a road trip.”

“What?”

“To Fort Valley, Georgia. I got a name, a location, and some history of the pit out of my dad, and I need a partner.”

Lizzie raised an eyebrow skeptically. “And your dad just told you all this? Out of the goodness of what heart?”

“I bribed him a little bit to loosen his lips. Look, I will explain everything on the way and you can tell me all about dying, but I was thinking we head there, do some magic, get Jade and Penelope out, and then the four of us can find a way to end this - that is … if you’ll come with me.” Hope’s eyes silently pleaded with Lizzie, hoping Lizzie wouldn't call her out for the parts she'd glossed over.

“Fine." She sighed. “Only because I’m not ready to face my family yet - and you will owe me a  _ big _ favor in the very near future.”

“Deal.”

Lizzie smiled. “I am so glad you didn’t ask what the favor was.”


	65. Chapter 65

Klaus groaned as his body hit the hard floor of the cell. “Foolish mistake moving me from that barrier spell,” he taunted, even from the floor with a wooden stake through his heart. 

“Foolish mistake coming to my school, threatening my students, and killing my daughter.” Alaric countered. “You’re going to wish that I’d left you in Hope’s barrier spell.”

“Doubtful.”

Alaric rolled his jaw. “You’re going to feel pain like you have never felt before.” He pushed the heavy door shut behind him, locking the bolt securely into place before heading back upstairs. He needed to find Emma and get a powerful spell surrounding that cell before any more trouble could come out of it. 

But as he was walking through the quiet school, he heard another set of footsteps headed towards the front door. He followed them curiously, clearing his throat when he saw Hope sneaking by.

“Where are you going?”

“Oh.” She whirled around and he caught the glint of his keys in her hand. “Um … nowhere.”

“Are those my keys?” 

“No.”

He tilted his head and raised his eyebrows at them. She knew he knew she was lying.

“Okay, yes.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice my car missing?” 

“Can’t you just trust me?” Hope asked in one, long sigh.

“No!” Alaric scoffed. “You just broke into my office, you’re committing grand theft auto,  _ and _ you’re clearly about to drive my  _ stolen car _ without a license.” He made sure not to let Klaus’ name sneak out in his anger. 

“I wasn’t going to drive.”

“Then who’s gonna drive?” 

“Look, it has to do with my dad.” Hope stuck her chin in the air. “Can you just let me handle it?”

“Your father was found with three dead students today, Hope. The same day we buried  _ my _ daughter!” 

Hope glanced down, voice soft. “I know.”

“What do you mean you know?” Alaric furrowed his eyebrow, heartbeat starting to pick up as the dread seeped into his stomach. 

She didn’t meet his eye. “How do you think they got to him in the first place?” 

Alaric was silent. 

“Just let me fix it.”

“ _ How _ ?  _ How _ are you going to fix it?”

“ _ Ad somnum.” _


	66. Chapter 66

Josie sat at the long witches’ table in the dining hall, head bent over a book, scribbling notes furiously. Rafael spotted her the moment he walked in, the space around her unusually empty. Where hordes of girls usually sat, hanging onto Josie Saltzman’s every word, stacks of books and papers were now.

“So, what teacher didn’t give you an extension after Lizzie?” he asked, setting his lunch down in an empty spot. “I’ll kick their ass.”

“Oh, it’s actually not for a class.” Josie looked up from her work for only the briefest of moments. 

“Extracurriculars?”

“Actually, I’m reading up on how to kill an Original vampire and their tribrid daughters.”

Rafael’s eyes went wide. “You’re really going to kill them both?”

“Yep,” Josie answered matter-of-factly. 

Rafael raised his eyebrows doubtfully but he didn’t say anything.

“What?” Josie grinned. “Like I’m not entitled to?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You know, the name ‘Saltzman’ is quite famous in the vampire-hunting world. I’m gonna finally put it to good use.” 

Rafael’s stomach did flips as he watched Josie smile, clearly pleased with herself and her murderous plan.

“That’s not a problem for you, is it?” Josie’s smile was gone now, replaced with a concerned look that didn’t really make it seem like she cared if it was or not. 

“You know -” Rafael grabbed his lunch, “- I actually just remembered I’m supposed to be helping some buddies with a project.”

Josie watched as he hurried from the dining hall and then shrugged and got back to her work.


	67. Chapter 67

“You knocked my dad out?” Lizzie asked, crinkling up her nose at the empty road ahead of them. 

Hope shrugged. “He was going to try and stop me.”

“Yeah, well, the last time you knocked me out with magic, I saw your dead mother.” 

“You still have to tell me about that, by the way.” Hope checked the map again, for what was probably the fifth time during the same stretch of straight, uninterrupted road. 

“Not much to tell. She just said I couldn’t let you free your dad, and if you did, I had to help you put him down.”

Hope turned her head to look out the passenger-side window. It wasn’t that there was anything interesting out there - just endless empty fields of grass - but she didn’t want Lizzie to see her face. “She didn’t say anything else?”

“She loves you,” Lizzie said.

“Yeah, I know.”

The blonde cleared her throat and sat up straighter in her seat. “What you  _ really _ want to know is what  _ my _ mom told me when I died.”

“And what was that?”

“That I see dead people.”

“You know,” Hope’s voice got higher, “you mentioned that earlier, but I thought maybe you were just delirious from - y’know - death.”

“Not delirious, possibly crazy.” Lizzie took a deep breath and adjusted her hands on the steering wheel. “But according to my mom, I not only can communicate with our dearly departed but they will help resurrect me any time I die. So that’s neat. She also alluded to the fact that I may be able to incorporate it into my magic, but I don’t think she was exactly well-researched on that part.” She stopped, a thought visibly forming. “I wonder if I can control zombies.”

“Zombies?”

Lizzie smiled to herself. “Who knows?”

The car fell silent, and Hope watched the road go on. 

“Are you hungry?” she asked finally.

“A little bit.”

“There’s a nice restaurant in two exits.” She pointed vaguely up the road a bit.

“A nice restaurant?” Lizzie laughed. “Are you asking me on a date, Mikaelson?”

Hope scrunched up her face. “No.”

“Good. Because I’m not interested in you like that.”

Hope rolled her eyes at that and directed Lizzie through the twists of roads.


	68. Chapter 68

“I thought you said this was a nice restaurant.” Lizzie crinkled her nose at the small diner. It was practically empty but their food was still taking forever.

“It’s worth the wait, I promise.” Hope smiled softly. “I used to come here all the time with my mom.”

“Well, sentimental or not, I’m starving and the service here  _ sucks _ .” Lizzie’s displeased face quickly snapped into a cheerful one. “Guess while we wait you can tell me what you plan to do to get Penelope and Jade out of the pit of doom?”

Hope rolled her eyes lightly. “I’m still working on that.” It was a lie. She had a plan. She’d had a plan since her father told her about Malivore’s creation with a witch, a vampire, and a werewolf. Something told her that the answer to that unspoken riddle was a tribrid. And Lizzie would  _ not _ like how Hope planned to test her theory.

Lizzie chatted away about what it was like to be dead, and Hope nodded along with mild interest, too preoccupied with how an endless void might feel instead, until their food finally came.

“Mmm,” Lizzie said, shoving three fries into her mouth at once. “I’m not going to say you were right, Hope, because I do believe in keeping some of my dignity, but the food is not horrible.”

“Told you so.”

“Have some class, Mikaelson.”

The two girls finished their food, the bill came, and they exchanged wide-eyed looks. 

“Do you have money?” Hope asked.

“No, Hope, nobody slipped a twenty into my funeral dress  _ before they buried me _ ,” Lizzie hissed under her breath. She leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Are you telling me we have to dine and dash?”

“I was more of thinking we magic our way out of it.”

“Okay, here’s the plan. I snap your neck, you resurrect as a vampire, you compel the waiter, and then we’re golden.”

“I was thinking less drastic.”

“Mmm. Like an illusion spell on some napkins? That’s less fun.”

“Take my hand.” Hope offered, her elbows resting on the table. 

Lizzie rolled her eyes. “Fine.”


	69. Chapter 69

Josie’s eyes moved fast over the open books in front of her. All this research on Original vampires - most of it written by her father - and no solution. 

Regular wooden stakes wouldn’t kill Klaus. Daggers wouldn't take him down permanently. White oak stakes - the one thing that could kill an Original - had all been destroyed by Klaus himself a long time ago. 

Josie slammed the book shut angrily, making the other students in the library jump. There was no way Klaus Mikaelson was unkillable. She wouldn't let him live.

She couldn’t siphon the magic out of him. That much magic would have a disastrous effect - she’d seen some research on that too. Lots of bleeding.

_ It's hopeless _ , she thought as she sank back into her chair to bury her face in her hands for just a moment before she squared her shoulders and sat up straight.

Josie was young, and Klaus was immortal. She had plenty of time to figure it out, and judging by how tightly her father had locked the Original up, he wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. 


	70. Chapter 70

“Penelope!” Hope whipped her head around, trying to squint into the never-ending blackness that surrounded her. “Jade!” 

The void stretched all around her, absorbing her shouts, silencing them like she’d never heard before.

“Penelope!” Hope’s heels made no sound on the ground beneath her. 

Hope opened her eyes with a start, surprised to see daylight and the road ahead of her. 

“Thank god you’re awake,” Lizzie said. “Your snores were driving me crazier than the boredom.”

Hope scrunched up her nose indignantly. “I don’t snore.”

“Fine. You were dreaming. I wasn’t sure if it was a good dream or a bad dream, but there was a lot of screaming Penelope’s name.”

Hope rolled her eyes at that.

“Come on,” Lizzie nudged. “Like we don’t all have them.” Lizzie drummed her fingers on her steering wheel, debating her next sentence. She spit it out before she could change her mind. “At least yours aren’t about someone else’s boyfriend.”

That confession caught Hope’s attention. “What?”

“What.”

“You have to spill now!”

“I can’t.” 

“Come on. I’ll spill a tragedy of love if you will.” 

Lizzie sighed in defeat. “Fine. But only because we have a long trip ahead of us.”

“Mm-hmm,” Hope hummed doubtfully. “You first.”

“No way! Your idea, you go first.”

“Fine.“ Hope took a deep breath and stuck her chin in the air. “There was this girl I thought I liked better than Penelope …”


	71. Chapter 71

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: Canon-Level Torture

Klaus’ hair was matted to his head with dried blood, but it did nothing to stop the blade that Alaric swung down on his head - not for the first time. Klaus screamed in agony when Alaric poured vervain water into the open wound. 

“You killed four students!” Alaric shouted angrily, grabbing Klaus’ face roughly and glaring at him. 

“Your gold-star pupil hand-delivered all four to me - including your own daughter.” Klaus spat blood at Alaric’s shoes. “So tell me,  _ Alaric, _ why is it me locked down here and not her?”

“She’s a kid.”

“She’s nineteen by my calculations.”

Alaric dropped his face roughly. “My point stands.”

“Do you always let  _ kids _ take your car and your daughter on a school-night road trip with no adults?”

“Excuse me?”

Klaus smirked. “I know you caught her sneaking out last night. I can hear everything in this school.  _ Everything. _ "

Alaric bent back down in front of the crouching Original, speaking evenly. “Hope snuck out, but I just saw Josie this morning.”

“Oh no, not that daughter.” Klaus laughed mischievously. “Your other one.”

Alaric took a step back, eyebrows furrowing, confusion turning quickly to anger.

“Ah … take it you’ve not heard the good news then?”

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not.”

Alaric grabbed the discarded blowtorch, face hardening as he flipped it on. Klaus’ eyes glowed yellow at the sight of the hot blue flame.


	72. Chapter 72

“There was this girl I thought I liked better than Penelope.”

“There’s no way.” Lizzie shook her head confidently. “Who could you have liked more than Penelope?”

“Her name is not important.” Hope shook her head like she was irritated with Lizzie’s question rather than filled with nervous adrenaline. “But she was surprisingly kind - like  _ literally _ surprising me with her kindness - and funny in that snarky kind of way.”

“This is sounding like Penelope 2.0. Why would you not go for the original?”

“They were different.” Hope looked almost offended before she shook her head. “And maybe I only like what I can’t have.”

“Why couldn’t you have this other girl?”

“Because her best friend hates me.”

Lizzie’s ears perked up, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “So it’s one of Josie’s friends?”

“No, shut up and listen. I told Penelope the first night we hooked up that I wasn’t into her, and I told her about this other girl.”

“And this other girl didn’t mysteriously get hexed in the shower?” Lizzie barked out a laugh.

“No, she didn’t.” Hope smiled softly. “But Pen and I hooked up anyway, and then Landon was my excuse the next day, so I guess it was always me that was the problem.”

“Hmm.” Lizzie held herself tensely, eyes suddenly glued dutifully to the road. “So, you wouldn’t have left the hobbit for Penelope Park?”

“I would now.” Hope started to fiddle with the zipper on her jacket. “In a heartbeat.”

Lizzie eyed the tribrid sideways, the gears in her brain grinding quickly. 

“But I was too scared to then. And then I convinced myself that I was in love with this girl so that the mess I had made with Landon and Penelope didn’t seem so bad. It didn’t hurt as much if I only liked them but I loved someone else. But I didn’t love either one of them. Not like that, anyway.”

Lizzie bit down on her growing smile.

Hope nodded, oblivious. “So yeah. I fucked up my only chance to be with Penelope by psyching myself out. That’s my tragedy.” She turned to look at Lizzie. “Your turn.”

Lizzie adjusted her grip on the steering wheel. “Oh boy.”


	73. Chapter 73

Penelope sat up, blinking in confusion. Her hands pressed into a surface she couldn’t see. It was too dark to make out the ground underneath her. 

But when she saw the other girl standing above her, Penelope realized it wasn’t dark at all. 

“Hi.” Jade ran her palms over her jeans nervously, a shaky smile on her face.

Penelope stood up, a smile of her own on her face. “Jade.”

The vampire furrowed her eyebrows. “Do I know you?”

“I’m a friend of Hope’s.”

“Hope Mikaelson?” 

Penelope smiled at the sound of Hope's full name and nodded. “We’ve been looking for you.”

“You remembered me.” Jade dropped her eyes shyly, a smile 

“Hope tried to convince everyone else you existed but … we were the only two who actually remembered. She never gave up, though.” Penelope gave a little laugh. “She’s stubborn like that.”

“Yeah, she is.” Jade licked her lips impatiently, trying to swallow the hundreds of questions she had. “So where is she? Is she going to get us out of here?”

Penelope’s smile dropped, her eyes squeezing shut. “She and I had … an argument, and I thought I could figure out this pit on my own. I - I came here alone.” Penelope bit her lip for a moment. “Without telling Hope."   
Jade sat down on the invisible ground, her entire body seeming to sink into the invisible ground. “We’re not getting out of here.”

“Hope will come get out.” Penelope sat across from her.

Jade shook her head. “She won’t remember us.”

“She remembered you. She’ll remember both of us.”


	74. Chapter 74

Hope tied her hair into a bun at the top of her head while she waited for Lizzie's story. “You have to tell me, you know. It’s the rules.” 

“You made up the rules!” Lizzie argued. Hope gave her a look, and Lizzie sighed. “Fine. But we have another hour. I have time to figure out  _ how _ to say it.”

Lizzie watched the road, her heart pounding in her ears. She waited far too long to start speaking again.

“I caught feelings for one of my friends’ boyfriends - well, he’s her ex now, but …” Lizzie dropped her eyes guiltily. “I feel like even now that they’re broken up, he’s still off limits. I mean, girl code and all. That’s just wrong.” Lizzie swallowed heavily. “But I just … I love him -" Her eyes went wide. "I mean, I  _ like _ him!”

“Did you talk to this girl yet?” Hope leaned across the car, oblivious to Lizzie's coated meaning. She smiled and singsonged in Lizzie’s ear, “I’ll bet she doesn’t even care.”

Lizzie thought about saying it. She was close. She could almost taste the words on her tongue. But she changed her mind at the very last second. “I will … eventually. I just don’t wanna ruin our friendship - me and the girl, I mean.”

“You should talk to her.” Hope nodded matter-of-factly, as though she were an expert on relationship advice and hadn't just explained how badly she'd fucked up her own relationship. “Sooner rather than later.” She laughed. “We really are tragic, aren’t we?”

“At least you got Penelope.” Lizzie leaned back in her seat. “I may never get this guy. Even with his ex’s stamp of approval … nobody says he likes me.”

“He would be crazy not to.” Hope’s eyes were warm as she looked at Lizzie. “And I don’t have Penelope. Penelope is in a hell dimension somewhere all alone.”

“But we’ll get her out.” 

"Yeah, we will."


	75. Chapter 75

“So how was it that you remembered me? The pit is supposed to make everyone forget.” Jade asked, laying backwards.

“I don’t know." Penelope shrugged, thinking back to that night. "Some witches and I were out in that field the night you disappeared, just fucking around. A spell backfired and broke my arm. We didn’t want to get in trouble, so we left for five minutes to get a vial of blood from the werewolf bite cures, and when we got back, we saw you one moment and you were gone the next. I assume I remember because I saw you vanish.”

“Did the rest of the witches you were with see me?”

“They did. But they didn’t remember you moments after. I thought I was losing my mind.” Penelope sighed and leaned back. “And then Hope started running around the school talking about a forgotten person.”

“Sounds to me like you seeing me disappear wasn’t what made you disappear.” Jade lifted her head to look at the other girl.

Penelope scoffed. “Do you have a better theory?”

Jade imitated her scoff, arching an eyebrow. “Well maybe Hope’s miracle blood in your system?” 

“Huh.”

“Huh.”


	76. Chapter 76

“I think this is our place.” Hope tried to squint past the end of the headlights. 

“ _ This _ is it?” Lizzie’s jaw dropped. She looked at the security cameras scattered along the fence, aiming wildly in all directions. “That is a  _ lot _ of security.”

“Well it is surrounding a top-secret pit with god-like powers.”

“I know that.” Lizzie eyed the various danger and warning signs plastered across the tall fence. “I may come back to life if I die, Mikaelson, but I’m not immune to being arrested for trespassing.” She pulled her upper lip back in disgust. “And I would  _ not _ look good in orange.”

“We’re not gonna get arrested!” Hope jerked her seatbelt off, hopping out of the car. 

“So how do we get in there?” Lizzie followed hastily.

Hope didn’t answer. She just squinted into the distance, thinking silently. 

“I swear to god, if I freeze my ass off because you can’t decide -”

“There’s a hole in the fence.”

“Excuse me?” 

Hope pointed in the direction of the breach. “Besides, we’re witches. We were getting in either way.” 

“Right. I knew that.” Lizzie started to follow Hope until she saw the big sign warning of high explosives. “Hey, Hope?” 

But the tribrid was too far gone to be paying any attention, halfway through the hole in the fence.

"If you get us blown up, I will kill you myself.” Lizzie ran to catch up with her.


	77. Chapter 77

Caroline poked her head into the nearly empty library, finally finding who she was looking for. Alaric was lying on the couch, surrounded by notebooks, with his hand over his eyes. 

“Are you dead now too?” Caroline laughed lightly as she approached.

“It is much too soon for that joke.” Alaric sat up, a pang of grief shooting through his chest. 

“Then what are you doing?”

“Thinking. Bracing myself for what I’m about to do.”

“And what is that?” Caroline sat down in an armchair.

“Go to a prison world.”

“What’s the point of going there when Klaus is here?” 

“Not to Klaus’. To Kai’s.” Alaric pushed a notebook out of the way. “Or rather, to 1994. Before all the white oak stakes were destroyed.”

Caroline froze, her eyes narrowing and a smile appearing on her face. “Smart.”

“You seem …” He narrowed his own eyes at her. “Unusually chipper.”

“I decided to take a break from being a grieving mother.” Caroline folded her hands.

“A  _ break _ ? A vampire break?” Alaric sat up straighter, realizing her meaning. “You turned it off?”

“I’ll turn it back on in a few days. I just needed a clear head for a bit.”

Alaric scoffed lightly. “I wish I could do that.” He sighed. “Are you sure about this?”

“I know what you’re thinking. ‘Caroline’s gonna go on a killing spree again.’ But I’m not. I’m just gonna breathe." She took a deep breath right on cue. "And it makes sense, too. What good is a school with two headmasters wallowing in grief? The school needs someone to keep it running.” Caroline smiled, pleased with herself. “So. Should I call Bonnie and ask for some blood?”


End file.
